Roasted chestnuts in Verona Photo: stock.adobe.com/Nicole
From our editorial team
Smoke rises over the hills of Tuscany, the smell of fire and roasted chestnuts fills the air.
In autumn, Italy is a land of gold, mist and Chestnuts. The season of chestnuts is now beginning in the Bel Paese: at markets, in taverns, in the streets of entire villages. From north to south, people are roasting, cooking and celebrating - with festivals, songs and dishes rooted in the history of the country.
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The „bread tree“ of Italy
Photo: stock.adobe.com/Michele Ursi
The chestnut was vital for survival in earlier centuries. As a so-called „bread tree“, it saved entire regions from hunger, especially in the mountain regions where wheat hardly grew. Even today, older families in the Garfagnana and Casentino regions tell stories of how they lived off chestnut flour in times of need - dried, ground and made into bread or porridge.
Today, the fruit is appreciated again: as a symbol of regional identity and as an autumnal speciality that gives Italy its very own fragrance. In many places, the harvest is a social event. Families and friends get together to gather and immediately roast and eat the first ones.
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Festivals, fire and families
In many regions - such as Lake Como, Mugello, Garfagnana and Etna in Sicily - the villages are transformed into open kitchens in October and November. „Sagre della Castagna“ are held everywhere, village festivals centred around the brown fruit that once filled people up and is now considered a delicacy. The pans glow in the squares and the restaurants smell of chestnut risotto, polenta and sweet chestnut cake.
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What Italy makes from chestnuts
The most popular classics include Zuppa di Marroni, a creamy chestnut soup with vegetables, particularly popular in the north-west and Tuscany, and Castagnaccio, a rustic cake made from chestnut flour with rosemary, pine nuts and sultanas. Autumnal, hearty dishes include gnocchi di castagne in sage butter or a risotto alle castagne, which elegantly combines the nutty flavour of chestnuts with rice.
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Photo by TONY G on Pexels.com
Desserts also play a role: Tiramisù di Marroni, an autumnal version of the classic with chestnut cream and a dash of rum, is popular. Purè di Castagne is also served in many regions - a fine chestnut puree, sweet or savoury, as a side dish with game or as a dessert with chocolate. Marroni canditi , candied chestnuts, are produced particularly in Piedmont, Liguria and Lombardy - hand-peeled, boiled several times and glazed in sugar syrup.
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Varieties, regions and flavour
Not all chestnuts are the same: the coveted chestnuts are considered to be particularly large, flavourful and fleshy. Like the sweet chestnut, they come from the Castanea sativa species, but are cultivated varieties. In Italy, there are up to 300 locally named varieties, from the Castagna del Mugello and the Marrone di Cuneo to the Castagna di Montella in Campania - many with a protected designation of origin (IGP or DOP).
The fruit is not only interesting from a culinary point of view, but is also healthy: low in fat, high in fibre, rich in vitamin C - and one of the few „nuts“ that could be processed into flour in times of need. Entire chestnut forests are still cultivated today in Tuscany, Trentino and Sicily.
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Along the Strada del Marrone del Mugello or in the small Museo del Castagno in Colognora di Pescaglia (Lucca), you can experience how closely this fruit is linked to Italy's history.
If you want to see and taste all this, now is the best time. In Marradi (Tuscany), Serino (Campania), Sassello (Liguria) and Sicily, the big chestnut festivals are taking place. There, autumn is more than just a season.
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