Sunday ... Poggio celebrates the Autumn!
On Sunday, November 18, the Elba Island celebrates the CASTAGNA with the 39th edition of CASTAGNATA at Poggio.
Autumn at Elba is a really magical season: every slope lights up with warm colors shining from yellow to the Red Fire, and the Underbust gives precious gifts such as mushrooms and ricci full of chestnuts. This latter fruit has long been devoted to many Tuscan populations, which make it delicious dishes, ranging from salty to sweet.
Chestnut is a very old fruit. Although the origins of Chestnut are unknown, some fossil finds show that this plant should originate from the Tertiary, about 10 million years ago, then spread to Asia, Europe and the Americas. Now chestnuts can be found for sale during the rest of the year, obviously not fresh but in alternative shapes such as flour, syrup, alcohol, in the form of puree and sweet cream ... but we want to put the fun you like do you pick them up personally? It's fun for the little ones, picking chestnuts in a wood and doing a nice walk, crowned then by roasting the "booty" the same evening ... it's always a touch of nature contact with no price !!!
In the Elba Island, the Chestnut-rich area is the northern slope of Mount Capanne, the same on which you can also find great porcini mushrooms! Here the ancient villages of Poggio and Marciana light up in this period in the days where the food and wine events linked to the chestnut are held. Tomorrow, in particular, the narrow and picturesque streets of Poggio will fill up booths and shops typical of many Chestnut specialties. From 12am until sunset you can enjoy many local delicacies, along with an excellent Elban wine.
But chestnuts are not just beautiful to see and good to eat ... they are also very healthy and nutritious. Fresh They have about 200 Kcal (per 100g) and dry up to 350 Kcal, contain quality proteins and few Fat. Among Mineral salts, they contain potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulfur and phosphorus, in addition to vitamins B1, B2, PP and C.
The chestnut varieties are really many ... and in this respect the magazine "La Cucina Italiana" explains the great difference, for example, between chestnuts and Marroni. Think about when you enjoy a caldarrosta or a marron glacé ... despite being similar (actually "cooking" between them) for sure you will have guessed some difference. In 1939 even a decree Regius defined the distinction. Chestnut is the fruit of a wild plant: in the past were the livelihood of many families of humble origins that picked them up in the woods ... and, since they could not afford even a piece of bread, the Chestnut was called the "tree of pane '. Once harvested, they were boiled, roasted or obtained a very nutritious flour to keep Long before making soups, bread or sweets. When later, in some areas, man intervened with a more structured cultivation, following wise grafts and prunings we came to have the Marroni, Fruits of Superior quality.
Suffice it to think that in a spontaneous "hedgehog" you can find up to 7 chestnuts from the dark brown skin. In a Hedgehog of Fruits the Fruits at the Massimo are 3, so much larger and the Brown color a bit lighter. Even the film that separates fruit and peel in the Brown is more smooth and easy to remove. As for the taste: the chestnuts are a bit less tasty (although roasted are really delicious !!!) while the Russians are more sugary and therefore often used by confectioners to create the famous frosted sweets oddly in the Kitchen for tasty dishes and refined typical of this period.
We are waiting for you tomorrow at Poggio for a triumph of colors and flavors tied to chestnut, poor fruit but that gives great happiness !!!
We remind you that for the occasion you will also be able to visit the Casetta Drouot, where Napoleon will tell himself ... even by candlelight! "Info and reservations at Cell 335.59 26 357 or at the gazebo.
FREE SHIPPING SERVICE - Info and Reservations Cell. 393.56 00 424
