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PGI — Corsica
In the heart of the Corsican mountains, where the Tyrrhenian Sea breathes its morning mists over the granitic slopes of Monte Sant'Angelo, grows a golden hazelnut that the Genoese already admired in the 16th century — and which the rest of the world is only just beginning to discover.
Vegetable from Corsica, PGI (IGP) since 2014.
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Hazelnut cultivation around the Mediterranean dates back to antiquity: as early as the 2nd century BC, Cato the Elder mentioned several varieties of hazelnuts in his treatise De agri cultura and recommended their cultivation. The ancient ties between Ligurie, the Roman Empire, then the Republic of Gênes and Corse suggest that the hazel tree had already been cultivated on the island for a very long time — but it was at the beginning of the 20th century that this crop experienced its true expansion. The exceptional frosts of 1905, 1906 and 1907 decimated the citron trees of the eastern plain, already weakened by foreign competition: farmers replaced them with hazel trees, a hardy tree whose vitamin-rich fruit made a valuable addition to diets in the aftermath of the Great War, when labour and food were scarce.
The interwar period saw hazel groves expand with the rise of the agri-food industry, then Corsican institutions actively encouraged planting after the Liberation: in 1963, the Conseil général de la Corse paid a premium of 15 francs per tree planted, and the « Syndicat des producteurs de noisette de la région de Cervione » was established on 15 September 1967. The cultivated variety, Fertile de Coutard, is not, however, a Corsican variety: it is a very old variety from south-eastern France, registered in the official catalogue of fruit species since 1970 — but one that found remarkable adaptation conditions in Corse, notably high resistance to pests and diseases. The last two decades of the 20th century saw production decline in the face of competition from low-labour-cost countries such as Turkey, until the revival spearheaded in 1999 by the association A Nuciola, committed to a quality approach and fair remuneration for producers.
The geographical area of the PGI (IGP) is in reality far vaster than a single valley: it extends across around sixty communes of Haute-Corse, from Ghisonaccia in the south to Lucciana in the north, with historical production remaining concentrated in the valley bottoms of the Costa Verde, where humidity, moderate evapotranspiration and soils well supplied with water in summer offer the hazel tree ideal conditions. Cervione, which gave its name to the product, remains its symbolic heart. After a severe decline in the 20th century — the island had nearly 500 hectares of hazel trees before the war, compared with 150 today —, the sector now brings together around a hundred producers for 50 to 60 tonnes harvested each year; 80 additional hectares of certified orchards have been planted since 2014, promising around 15 tonnes more once the trees reach maturity. The PGI recognition obtained in 2014 consolidated this revival: nowhere else does this particular microclimate — strong evaporation and a regular north-west/south-east breeze at harvest time — allow such natural drying of the hazelnut.
The Noisette de Cervione belongs to the Fertile de Coutard variety (genus Corylus avellana), known locally as Nuciola di Cervioni. In shell, it takes the shape of a flattened, subspherical heart, slightly compressed laterally, with a calibre between 18 and 22 mm; the shell, fairly thick yet smooth, displays dark and light striations that lighten from the cupule towards the pubescent tip, in shades of havana, tobacco, honey, bay and isabella. Once shelled, the kernel also reveals a remarkable heart shape distinctive to this production, with a uniform dark brown and mahogany-red colour and firm, off-white to pale ivory flesh.
The specificity of the product owes less to the terroir than to orchard management: traditional, low-density plantations (fewer than 400 trees per hectare) run on small parcels produce a smaller kernel than that of the same variety grown outside the geographical area — it rarely exceeds 30% of the weight of the whole fruit, compared with 39 to 44% elsewhere. This concentration explains the observed difference in taste: the Noisette de Cervione is more intense than its mainland cousins of the same variety, without gaining any bitterness or undergrowth dampness.
Appearance
Flattened heart-shaped shell, subspherical, calibre 18–22 mm, shades of havana, tobacco, honey, bay and isabella; heart-shaped kernel, uniform dark brown and mahogany red, firm off-white to pale ivory flesh.
Aroma
On dry kernels, roasted and toasted aromas, full-bodied.
Taste
Clean and direct — neither rancid, bitter nor sour — sweet, raw and aromatic, sometimes enhanced with notes of arbutus berry; taste of oil and a distinctly perceptible fatty sensation.
Texture
Smooth, neither floury nor watery.
Removal of leaves, stones and twigs, then placing into slatted crates allowing aeration.
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Lightly dry-roasted in a pan, the Noisette de Cervione reveals its full potential: a full-bodied, roasted and toasted flavour, with a clearly perceptible sensation of fat and butter. It is perfect for an apéritif, as is or lightly salted.
It is eaten whole, ground into powder or as oil, and is used in numerous local preparations. In Corse, it traditionally accompanies milk-fed lamb, one of the island's ancestral dishes, served during festive meals.
Natural pairings: Corsican red wines (Nielluccio), miel de Corse PDO (AOP) châtaigneraie, 70% dark chocolate, matured Brocciu, botanical spirits.
Since: 2014
Area covered: ~70 communes of Haute-Corse, from Ghisonaccia to Lucciana (2B)
Key requirements: Fertile de Coutard variety ≥ 90% of plants · maximum density 400 trees/ha · manual or mechanical harvesting upon natural drop · natural drying preferred (mechanical as back-up) · grading, cracking, sorting and packaging within the geographical area
No producer is listed for this product yet.
