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VALLE CASTELLANA CHESTNUT
Produced in the Valle Castellana municipality, this chestnut is one of the
Florentine marron varieties, of which it bears the typical characteristics, in
a vast range of sizes, a result of adopting only organic cultivation methods.
The cultivation of chestnut groves and harvesting of their fruit is widespread
in this territory, and is documented as early as the thirteenth century, for instance
by Palma (in Storia ecclesiastica
e Civile, 1834) and Lattanzi
(in Appunti Storici su Valle Castellana,
1955), who describe the cultivation
as widespread on the territory.
The formation of “ricciaie”
(husk mounds) and the “treatment”
of chestnuts are practices in use
since then to prolong the preservation
of the product, which was a
staple of popular diet.
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
Fruit of the species Castanea sativa L., called the “Marrone di Valle Castellana”.
A kg of chestnuts contains 50-130 fruits. It has an oval-ellipsoidal shape, the pericarp
is a shiny brown colour with reddish striations, the hilar cicatrix is small, regular and
rectangular in shape, the tuft is medium-large. The fine episperm peels away from the
seed easily. About 40% of the fruit is septate. Excellent flavoured pulp.
PROCESSING AND CONSERVATION METHODS
The plants are not fertilized in any way and no plant protection products are used to
control the most common pathologies; only removal of side shoots, cleaning of the
undergrowth and pruning are performed.
These chestnuts are picked by beating the husks to form mounds, which are left until
the husks open alone. Some chestnuts are sold immediately, whilst others are left in
the mounds until December. In higher altitude areas (Morrice, Pietralta, 800-1000m
asl), where the chestnuts ripen a fortnight later than in other areas, the fruit is simply
left to fall naturally from the tree and sold or treated by soaking in water for 5-6 days,
then they are dried to promote preservation.