Also during Christmas 2025, American peanuts will appear on Italian tables: also known as peanuts, these Arachis hypogaea (a plant native to Central America) have taken on different names throughout Italy – from “spagnolette” to “nucelle” -, thanks to the dialect variations handed down over the generations. Let’s therefore cross Italy to discover all the ways in which peanuts are called in the different regions.
Little curiosity: despite what you might think, peanuts are not part of dried nuts: from a botanical point of view, in fact, they belong to the legume family (Leguminosae)just like beans or lentils.
Titjobs, in Lombardy
The term “spagnolette” to indicate peanuts is particularly widespread in Lombardy (especially in the provinces of Varese, Como, Monza Brianza and Milan), but also in part of the Canton of Ticino, in Switzerland.
The origin of this name has to do with the introduction of peanuts into Europe, which occurred around the 16th century by the conquistadors Spaniards, who had colonized South America, from which the plant comes.
The bagigi, in Veneto
If, however, you are in one of the 7 provinces of Veneto, then it is likely that instead of peanuts you will be offered “bagigi”. This ending comes from Arabic hab-hazizhowever used erroneously: the Arabic word, in reality, does not indicate the peanut plant, but an edible tuber similar to a walnut and renamed in Spain as chufa (from which the vegetable drink known as horchata, widespread especially in the Valencia region).
Scachetti, in Emilia-Romagna
Going down to Emilia-Romagna, here the peanuts are called “scachetti”: the term derives from the French «cacahuète» – also used in Spanish to indicate, in fact, the American peanut –, which over time was gradually Italianized, first as “caccaetti” and subsequently taking the name of “chequetti”.
Nucelline, in Campania
Campania closes this list, where peanuts are called “nucelle”. In this case, the origin of the name is quite clear: it is, in fact, a diminutive of “walnut”, more widespread in its dialect form than «‘And nucell” than in the Italianized version of “nucelle”.
The calacausi, in Sicily
In Sicily, and more specifically in Catania, American peanuts have taken on the name “calacausi”: literally, this term means “trouser hanger” (causi are trousers in Catania dialect), although its origin is not entirely clear and there are various theories in this regard. Specifically, the term calacausi would be linked to the fact that, to be eaten, peanuts must be peeled and therefore deprived of their appearance, i.e. the shell, compared to trousers.
A second explanation, perhaps more playful, traces the term calacausi to an alleged laxative power of peanuts which, if eaten in excess, would cause the inevitable gesture of “dropping your trousers” to go to the bathroom.
