EP32 - Chestnuts and chestnut flour in Tuscan cuisine

Cooking with an Italian accent

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Today buying good quality chestnut flour can be difficult, and it is certainly more expensive than it used to be. A good local organic stone ground wheat flour costs about 2€ a kilo. If you want to buy an organic, stone ground chestnut flour made with local chestnuts, that flour can cost from 10€ up to 15€ a kilo! It used to be the flour of poor people, of those who could not afford, or get hold of, wheat flour, and now it is considered a delicacy, as it is a gluten free flour, very nutrituous, rich in fibers, minerals and vitamins.
Yet, chestnut flour is one of the most fundamental ingredients of the cucina povera, the peasant cooking, of the Tuscan mountains, from Garfagnana and Lunigiana, through the Appennino Pitoiese, down to Mugello and Mount Amiata, basically the whole mountain right side of Tuscany, from north to south.
In today’s episode, we will explore the local traditions and recipes related to chestnuts and chestnuts flour, from bread to pasta, to castagnaccio and necci.
Discover more stories and recipes in my latest cookbook "From the Market of Tuscany": https://en.julskitchen.com/cookbooks
On the blog:
- Castagnaccio: https://en.julskitchen.com/dessert/castagnaccio-chestnut-cake
- Necci: https://en.julskitchen.com/dessert/necci-tuscan-chestnut-pancakes
- Pecorino and chestnut risotto: https://en.julskitchen.com/first-course/rice-cereals/pecorino-and-chestnut-risotto
- Potato, porcini and chestnut soup: https://en.julskitchen.com/first-course/soup/potato-porcini-and-chestnut-soup
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