Ciceri e Tria — Fried and Boiled Pasta with Chickpeas

Salento, Lecce province, Puglia. The dish is specifically Salentine and is considered one of the oldest documented pasta preparations in Italy. The Arab influence on Salentine cooking (via the Norman-Arab-Byzantine Sicily connection) is preserved in the name tria.

Ciceri e tria is one of the oldest documented pasta dishes in Italy, specifically associated with the Salento area of Puglia: wide pasta strips (tria — derived from the Arabic 'itria', meaning pasta) half-fried in olive oil until crisp and half-cooked in the chickpea broth. The fried and boiled tria are combined with the chickpeas — the fried strips provide crunch and a roasted-oil flavour; the boiled strips provide the familiar soft pasta texture. The combination of two textures from the same pasta, in the same bowl, is the central technique of the dish. It has been prepared in Salento since at least the medieval period.

Ciceri e tria is a study in textural contrast — the soft, broth-soaked boiled pasta strips and the crisp, oil-roasted fried strips in the same bowl create an alternating experience of yielding and crunchy. The chickpeas are earthy and soft; the broth is starchy and slightly sweet; the olive oil ties everything together. It is one of the most ancient pasta preparations still served, and it still surprises.