The Island of Elba celebrates CHESTNUT with the 39th edition of the CASTAGNATA al Poggio.
Autumn on Elba is a truly magical season: each slope is lit by warm colors that fade from bright yellow to fiery red, and the undergrowth gives precious gifts like mushrooms and hedgehogs full of chestnuts. Just this last fruit has long been honored by many Tuscan populations, which make delicious dishes, ranging from salty to sweet.
Chestnut is an ancient fruit. Although we do not know precisely the origins of the chestnut, some fossil finds show that this plant should even come from the Tertiary, about 10 million years ago, and then spread to Asia, Europe and the Americas. Now you can find chestnuts for sale during the rest of the year, obviously not fresh but in alternative forms such as flour, syrup, under alcohol, in the form of puree and sweet cream ... but we want to put the fun that you do you have to collect them in person? True fun for the little ones, collect chestnuts in a wood and take a walk, then crowned by rooting the "booty" the same evening ... it is always an experience of contact with nature that is priceless !!!
On the Island of Elba the richest area of chestnut trees is the northern slope of Mount Capanne, the same on which you can also find excellent porcini mushrooms! Here the ancient villages of Poggio and Marciana are lit during this period in the days when the food and wine events related to the chestnut are held. On the occasion of CASTAGNATA, the narrow and picturesque streets of Poggio are filled with stands and typical shops with many chestnut-based specialties. From noon to sunset you can taste many local delicacies, along with an excellent Elban wine.
But chestnuts are not only good to see and good to eat ... they are also very healthy and nutritious. Fresh have about 200 Kcal (per 100g) and dry up to 350 Kcal, contain quality proteins and few fats. Among the minerals, they contain potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulfur and phosphorus, in addition to vitamin B1, B2, PP and C.
The varieties of chestnuts are really many ... and in this regard the magazine "La Cucina Italiana" explains the big difference, for example, between chestnuts and chestnuts. Think about when you taste a roast chestnut or a marron glacé ... although they are similar (in fact "cousins" among them) for sure you will have guessed some difference. In 1939 even a Royal Decree defined its distinction. The chestnut is the fruit of a wild plant: in the past they were the sustenance of many families of humble origins who collected them in the woods ... and, as they could not afford even a piece of bread, the chestnut was called the "tree of bread". Once collected, they were boiled, roasted or they obtained a very nutritious flour to be preserved for a long time and then made soups, bread or desserts like the castagnaccio (see the recipe). When subsequently, in some areas, the man intervened with a more structured cultivation, after skilled grafts and prunings we have come to have the chestnuts, fruits of superior quality.
Suffice it to say that in a "spontaneous" hedgehog you can find up to 7 chestnuts with a dark brown skin. In a hedgehog brown the fruits are at most 3, so much larger and brown a little lighter. Even the film that separates fruit and peel in brown is smoother and easier to remove. As for the taste: the chestnuts are a bit 'less tasty (even if roasted are really greedy!) While the chestnuts are more sugary and so often used by the pastry shops to create the famous glazed cakes odirettamente in the kitchen for tasty dishes and refined typical of this period.
Tasting these fruits, warm and nutritious, is always a pleasure, so.. ENJOY OUR PARADISE !
