There are written records of hazelnut cultivation in Polizzi, in Sicily’s Madonie Mountains, dating back to the Norman period. Documents from 1160 to 1223, including deeds of sale, mention the production of hazelnuts, which were introducted to Sicily in the late Roman period,according to the hypotheses of some scholars. It was the Arabs who gave great importance to hazelnut cultivation in the following centuries, as evidence in the area of Piazza Armernia, fox example, has shown. It was therefore during this period that cultivation most likely expanded to the Madonie region and Polizzi in particular.
In Polizzi, the racinante variety took the name Santa Maria di Gesù because the material used for propagation originated in a neighborhood of the same name near the town of Piazza Armerina. The fruit is spherical, of medium size and a little bit squashed, with a sandy color.
In the past, hazelnut groves, or noccioleti, covered hundreds of hectares around Polizzi, especially in the Valle dei Mulini. They were the undisputed key component of the Madonie region’s economy up until the 1960s, when a decline began. Today, the hazelnuts are cultivated on only about 150 hectares, and the area decreases each year. The harvest occurs between August and September.
The Polizzi hazelnut is characterized by a particularly intense aroma, which develops especially well when the nuts are toasted. This makes it an optimal ingredient in many Polizzi pastries: pastizzotti, castagnoli, torrone, and the famous nucatoli, small biscuits made from finely diced hazelnuts covered with icing.
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