9,4 Mb - formato pdf - Enoteca Regionale
9,4 Mb - formato pdf - Enoteca Regionale
9,4 Mb - formato pdf - Enoteca Regionale
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VALLE CASTELLANA CHESTNUT<br />
Produced in the Valle Castellana municipality, this chestnut is one of the<br />
Florentine marron varieties, of which it bears the typical characteristics, in<br />
a vast range of sizes, a result of adopting only organic cultivation methods.<br />
The cultivation of chestnut groves and harvesting of their fruit is widespread<br />
in this territory, and is documented as early as the thirteenth century, for instance<br />
by Palma (in Storia ecclesiastica<br />
e Civile, 1834) and Lattanzi<br />
(in Appunti Storici su Valle Castellana,<br />
1955), who describe the cultivation<br />
as widespread on the territory.<br />
The formation of “ricciaie”<br />
(husk mounds) and the “treatment”<br />
of chestnuts are practices in use<br />
since then to prolong the preservation<br />
of the product, which was a<br />
staple of popular diet.<br />
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION<br />
Fruit of the species Castanea sativa L., called the “Marrone di Valle Castellana”.<br />
A kg of chestnuts contains 50-130 fruits. It has an oval-ellipsoidal shape, the pericarp<br />
is a shiny brown colour with reddish striations, the hilar cicatrix is small, regular and<br />
rectangular in shape, the tuft is medium-large. The fine episperm peels away from the<br />
seed easily. About 40% of the fruit is septate. Excellent flavoured pulp.<br />
PROCESSING AND CONSERVATION METHODS<br />
The plants are not fertilized in any way and no plant protection products are used to<br />
control the most common pathologies; only removal of side shoots, cleaning of the<br />
undergrowth and pruning are performed.<br />
These chestnuts are picked by beating the husks to form mounds, which are left until<br />
the husks open alone. Some chestnuts are sold immediately, whilst others are left in<br />
the mounds until December. In higher altitude areas (Morrice, Pietralta, 800-1000m<br />
asl), where the chestnuts ripen a fortnight later than in other areas, the fruit is simply<br />
left to fall naturally from the tree and sold or treated by soaking in water for 5-6 days,<br />
then they are dried to promote preservation.