For centuries, in the valleys of Ticino, chestnuts were everyday food: fresh in autumn, dried all winter, ground into flour. The chestnut woods around the villages were tended like orchards, and in many places they still are.
Nobody needs chestnuts to get through the winter any more, but an autumn without a castagnata is not autumn.
Choosing chestnuts
- They should be shiny, heavy and firm. If they give under your fingers, they are old or dry inside.
- Throw out any with tiny holes in the shell: there is almost always a worm inside.
- A simple trick: put them in a bowl of water. Any that float go.
Scoring them
Before roasting, every chestnut has to be scored: one firm cut through the shell on the rounded side, without going too deep into the flesh. It lets the steam out. A chestnut that has not been scored bursts on the fire.
Roasting them
We roast chestnuts the old way, in a pan with holes over the embers, not over an open flame.
- Put the chestnuts in the pan in a single layer.
- Shake the pan often, so they cook on all sides and do not burn.
- After about a quarter of an hour (the time depends a lot on the fire), the shell is dark and opens along the cut, and the flesh is soft.
- Wrap them in a cloth or a sheet of newspaper for five minutes: the steam makes them easier to peel.
At home you can also do them in the oven, at 200 °C for about half an hour, with a tray of water on the shelf below so they do not dry out.
What with
Roast chestnuts are eaten hot, with your hands, with a glass of young red wine or, for children, a cup of milk or syrup. Leftover chestnuts, peeled, are good the next day cooked in milk.
Our castagnata
On the last Sunday in October we light the fire in the courtyard for the last party of the season: roast chestnuts, wine and the pergola lit for one last time. At the end of October we close for the winter. The exact dates are on the board in the courtyard; to know them in advance, give us a call.