Lunigiana can be considered a big chestnut grove where Lunigiana PDO Chestnut Flour originates, a sweet flour obtained from the processing of chestnuts with ancient and traditional methods.
Until the Second World War, chestnut trees were in fact cultivated in the flat and hilly areas of the territory because they were considered "the bread tree", fundamental for the sustenance of the population. Chestnut is in fact a plant whose every part can truly be used: from the wood for heating and carpentry, to the fruit consumed whole or processed, up to the leaf traditionally used as "baking paper" in the various preparations with cast iron pots.
The chestnut harvest takes place from the end of September, but can last until mid-December. The selected chestnuts are then dried in the "gradili" , evocative environments where the slow fire is fed constantly and exclusively with chestnut wood. After a minimum of 25 days the chestnuts are ready to be "beaten" and cleaned of their external skin and ground in stone mills.
This is how Lunigiana PDO Chestnut Flour, with its characteristic ivory color and consistency similar to talcum powder, arrives in kitchens to be used in the numerous preparations in which it is the protagonist.
Here are 4 recipes with Lunigiana PDO Chestnut Flour:
