Chestnut in its porcupine-like casing
The smell of roasting chestnuts on a blustery fall afternoon is a sure sign that autumn has arrived and Thanksgiving is just around the corner. My Mom grew up in Bregaglia, where fall is synonymous with golden larch trees and wisps of smoke streaming from cascinas, Bregaglia’s small chestnut smoke huts. Although my sisters and I grew up in the States, each fall we experienced a taste of Bregaglia when my grandmother’s package arrived. This special delivery contained a medium-sized white linen sack filled with dried smoked chestnuts, which we ate like hard candy. Thanksgiving is my favorite North American holiday. I celebrate it wherever I am, and having Bregaglian roots, chestnut stuffing has always been an essential part of my Thanksgiving menu. Turkey stuffing is an American tradition, but chestnuts always remind me of Bregaglia.
One of the larger chestnut forests in Europe begins in the Plaza area of Bregaglia, just below Soglio, and continues down to Piuro in the Val di Chiavenna. Geographically, Val di Bregaglia (Val is the Italian word for valley) and Val di Chiavenna are the same valley, however, politically and culturally, Bregaglia belongs to Switzerland and Val di Chiavenna to Italy. Chestnuts have long been an important staple in this region.
Chestnut History
Originating in Asia, Castanea sativa Mill. is a member of the Beech family (Fagaceae) and the only chestnut species of the Castanea genus native to Europe. C. sativa usually grows in mountainous regions, where climate and soil conditions are more favorable. Bregaglia’s chestnut trees are found in the lower part of the valley in the towns of Promontogno, Bondo, Soglio and Castasenga, the latter getting its name from castagna, the Italian word for chestnut.
Approximately 2500 years ago, chestnuts began being transported from Asia via Greece to the West. The first written record of chestnut cultivation is in Theophrastus’ Enquiry into Plants from the 3rd century B.C. At the time of the Roman Empire (31 B.C.-476 A.D.), the Romans imported chestnuts into Europe, but during their reign, the only center of chestnut cultivation was Insubria, the northern Italian-Swiss region, which includes Lake Como, Lake Lugano and Lake Maggiore. Studies indicate that Castanea sativa pollen existed in the Insubrian region throughout the Holocene Period (the past ~10,000 years), long before the Romans arrived. In any case, the Romans were probably responsible for introducing chestnuts to various parts of Europe, including Italian regions north of Rome, France (Corsica is a particularly renowned chestnut region), Spain, Portugal and Southern Switzerland (Ticino, Poschiavo and Bregaglia, where there are still remains of a Roman road).
Intense chestnut cultivation began during the medieval period (~400 A.D.-1517). High in protein, carbohydrates and fiber and rich in iron, potassium, phosphorous, B1, B2, vitamin A, vitamin C and magnesium, chestnuts became a main staple, as corn and potatoes did in other parts of the world. In most mountainous regions, where grains are difficult to grow, chestnuts provided a nutritious alternative. They were cultivated to ripen at specific times during the fall and for various uses, fresh consumption, drying, making flour and animal feed.
ordinary chestnut Spanish chestnut horse chestnut
Ordinary Chestnuts, Spanish Chestnuts and Horse Chestnuts
The two main European types are ordinary chestnuts (also known as Castanea sativa Mill., castagna, Kastanien, chataigne) and Spanish chestnuts (a cultivar of C. sativa Mill., marroni, Edelkastanien, marron). The regular chestnuts are smaller, darker and have a more oval base, while the Spanish chestnuts are larger, lighter brown and have a more rectangular base. Once the shell is removed, it is easier to remove the skin from the Spanish chestnut, whereas the regular chestnut skin is more tenacious. Although inedible, I am mentioning horse chestnuts because they are also found in Bregaglia. They are rounder in shape with an irregularly rounded base.
Horse chestnuts (Aesculus hippocastanum) are lovely decorative trees, getting their name from an ancient Turkish remedy, which used the seeds to make a cure for coughing horses. Horse chestnuts are also found in the States, but are a European import. In the United States, the native Ohio buckeye (Aesculus glabra) is the more commonly found decorative chestnut. The edible chestnuts in the States are the rare American chestnut (Castanea dentata), which dramatically dimished in number due to a fungal blight in the early 20th century.
“Noble” Chestnuts
The Spanish chestnut (marroni) cultivar, grown in warmer Val di Chiavenna, has always been valued for its larger size and sweetness and also has a history of cultivation in Portugal, Spain and northern Italy. Beginning in the Renaissance, the Spanish chestnut (marroni), known in German as Edelkastanien (“noble” chestnuts), was in high demand by French nobility from Lyon. The Lyonnaise monopolized one of the three most important European chestnut trading routes. Their route ran from northern Italy through Lyon up to Paris. The second road ran from Milan and Bergamo up to the Germanic regions, while the third began in Portugal and continued up to northern Portuguese and Galician harbors. The Spanish chestnut’s short shelf life (~three months), made them difficult to transport for weeks on end by horse and wagon, so only the best were chosen for long journeys. The financial risk involved in transporting chestnuts drove up the prices, making the finest chestnuts accessible primarily to the wealthy.
Cultivation for Wood
Chestnut trees were also cultivated for timber and fuel. The beautiful deep brown color of chestnut wood is lovely for floors and furniture. In many regions, chestnut wood was used for construction and for making baskets and outdoor implements. Chestnut wood is particularly weather and rot resistant.
Coppicing, a regenerative technique used for producing timber, was a common method used for cultivating chestnuts. The trees are cut down to the ground and the sprouting stumps are allowed to grow for a rotation (7-25 years) and then harvested for the wood.
Bregaglia Chestnut Harvest
Typically, from mid-September to mid-November, billowing smoke from the little chestnut foliage fires dot the landscape as porcupine-like casings (see very first chestnut blog photo) drop to the ground, burst open, and reveal deep brown chestnuts. The nuts must complete the final step in the ripening process before dropping to the ground, so it is important that the chestnuts fall on their own and are not shaken from the tree. Beforehand, the grass under the trees is usually cut to facilitate chestnut collection. Raking the chestnut leaf foliage uncovers shiny brown chestnuts lying on the ground or still partially wedged in their prickly casings. The chestnuts are then collected with glove-covered hands and placed into baskets or buckets. It is crucial to harvest the chestnuts one or two days after they have fallen, otherwise, worms and mold quickly move in.
The chestnuts are then delivered to the cascinas (smoke huts), where the drying process begins. The cascinas are located throughout the chestnut forest and a few are close to town. Back in the day, many families needed their own cascina to smoke their entire chestnut harvest. Today, there are fewer chestnuts and less families participating in this tradition, so several families usually share a cascina, spreading out their portion of chestnuts on the wooden poles in designated sections of the attic.
Below, a wood fire is started and kept going with chestnut foliage and twigs for six to eight weeks. Chestnut leaves and branches are collected and transported by gerlo to the hut. A gerlo is a large cone-like wicker basket with a flat base that is carried on someone’s back. A villager is in charge of tending the fire and making sure there is continuous smoke for drying the chestnuts. This ensures that the chestnuts will be mold, worm and insect free.
After the smoking process is complete, a day is chosen to get together and process the chestnuts. On the designated day, everyone gathers in the morning and is assigned a job. While someone removes the chestnuts from the attic, others stuff the smoked chestnuts into large long linen bags and begin swinging and pounding the chestnut-filled bags against a large round wooden stump. Once most of the shells have fallen off, the linen bag is emptied into a box. Then, the shell-less nuts are scooped into a large flat basket held by a woman, who has the hardest job. There are few people left that have the stamina and ability to continuously shake the basket back and forth until all the skins are removed from the chestnuts. Once this is done the shriveled chestnuts are placed in small linen bags and distributed to their respective owners.
After the chestnuts are processed and packed, it is time for lunch. Everyone brings something, so there is an abundance of delicious food and drink, cheese, bread, sausage, cold cuts, cakes, wine, mineral water and coffee.
Eating Chestnuts
In Bregaglia, chestnuts are commonly smoke-dried, but in other regions, such a northern Italy, they are frequently just dried. Smoke-dried and dried chestnuts are ground into flour for baking breads, cakes and making pasta. The smoke-flavored chestnuts are often boiled and eaten with red cabbage as a main meal or served warm with whipped cream for dessert.
In the fall, fresh chestnuts are roasted in the oven, on a special electric chestnut roaster or over an open fire. In Bregaglia, they are also boiled in water to make a dish called farüda, which is served with bacon and buttermilk mixed with whipped cream.
Roasting chestnuts over an open fire is one of my favorite fall activities. Whether the chestnuts are prepared over an open fire or in the oven, they need to be scored with an “X” or a simple slit to keep them from exploding during the roasting process. Then, the chestnuts are placed in a special metal pan with metal slats, which hangs from a hook over the fire. Steadily moving the long metal handle on the pan back and forth keeps the chestnuts from burning. After approximately 20 minutes, depending on the size of the chestnuts, they should be ready. The best test is to remove one from the pan, peel it and eat it. When they are done, pour them into a bowl and start peeling away. I am known for eating the chestnuts as fast as I peel them, so, when I lived in the States, if I needed larger quantities for stuffing or other dishes, I usually bought a jar or two (at apprx. $10 each) at Whole Foods or Williams Sonoma. Here, if I need larger quantities, I buy them dried and boil them.
Vermicelle, as it is called in German, is a chestnut paste squeezed into thin spaghetti-like strands. In Italian, vermicelli, literally means “little worms,” but are actually strands of pasta even thinner than spaghettini (thin spaghetti). Vermicelle is a dessert often served in a glass or pastry crust, or on top of a delicious cream pastry with fresh homemade whipped cream. Sometimes the chestnut paste is mixed with Kirschwasser (cherry water), a popular Swiss alcoholic beverage made from cherries.
Bregaglia Chestnut Festival
A couple years ago, in an effort to celebrate and preserve the longstanding Bregaglia tradition of harvesting and processing chestnuts, the Festival della castagna was started. This year, friends from California were visiting during the week of the festival, so we joined in the festivities. It was a beautiful sunny fall day. Locals and tourists gathered together for a delicious meal and various chestnut specialties. There were games for children, raffles, live folk music and stands selling all sorts of specialties made from chestnuts, such as cake, honey, beer and schnapps. The latter two are more recent developments.
Chestnuts will always bring back fond memories of my childhood and pulling white linen bags stuffed with smoked chestnuts out of boxes. It is nice to know the story behind those chestnuts, to see the trees from which they fell, how they were gathered and processed and, finally, the important role they played in Bregaglia history.
References:
Conedera, M., Krebs, P., Tinner, W., Pradella, M. and D. Torriani. 2004. The cultivation of Castanea sativa (Mill.) in Europe, from its origin to its diffusion on a continental scale. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, Vol. 13: 161-179.
Conedera, M., Manetti, M.C., Giudici, F. and E. Amorini. 2004. Distribution and economic potential of the Sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) in Europe. Ecologia Mediterranea, Vol. 30, 2: 179-193. Accessed online on 12 October 2008. http://www.wsl.ch/personal_homepages/conedera/download/Conedera_et_al_2004
eNature.com. Horse Chestnut Aesculus hippocastanum. Accessed online on 12 November 2008: http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?recnum=TS0114
Gutekunst, H., Pfammatter, L. and K. Pfammatter. Bergeller Edelkastanien. Chur: Gasser Print AG
Hofstetter, S., Tinner, W., Valsecchi, V., Carraro, G. and M. Conedera. 2006. Lateglacial and Holocene vegetation history in the Insubrian Southern Alps-New indications from a small-scale site. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, Vol. 15: 87-98. Accessed online on 11 November 2008: http://www.springerlink.com/content/m4745×8u63751n7x/
Horticulture Yard and Garden. Chestnuts, Horse-Chestnuts, and Ohio Buckeyes. Accessed online on 22 October 2008: http://www.extension.umn.edu/projects/yardandgarden/ygbriefs/h401chestnuts.html
Kiple, K.F., ed., and K.C. Ornelas, ed. The Cambridge World History of Food-Chestnuts. Accessed online on 13 November 2008. http://www.cambridge.org/us/books/kiple/chestnuts.htm
National Geographic Society. 1995. National Geographic Atlas of the World. Washington D.C.: National Geographic Society.
Sepia photos are courtesy of the Ciäsa Granda Museum in Stampa, Bregaglia
Cascina drawing is courtesy of the town of Castasegna, Bregaglia
