// serrapistoiese.it // escursioni / trekking / montagna //

Many typical mountain dishes originate around Serra and in the Valdinievole in general. Amongst these are chestnut flour necci, castagnaccio and typical dishes with edible porcini mushrooms and wild boar.
The Chestnut This splendid tree is typical of the woods on the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines and is of fundamental importance for the agricultural market and the alimentary habits of mountain people. Chestnut flour is obtained by grinding dried chestnuts on stone, and the product recently obtained the rank of Protected Designation of Origin from the European Union. The ancient Greeks called chestnuts “Jupiter’s’ Nuts” and the Romans planted these trees to the north. The tree has it’s ancient origins in Asia and was already present in the lands around the Mediterranean; popular belief states that the thistle contains three chestnuts because one is for the lord, one for the farmer and one for the poor people.		I necci Necci or Nicci are a sort of large wafer made with chestnut flour and normally filled with ricotta. They represent one of the typical foodstuffs of the Pistoian Apennines and the Garfagnana, where the term “neccio” has always meant “chestnuts”. Cultivation of the tree in this area started around 1000AD, when vast areas were planted to meet the demands of the growing population. In Lucchesia the chestnut spread so much that the tree was called the ‘bread tree’ because it represented the main source of sustenance for the population. The oldest recipe for necci is cooked between sandstone blocks and uses chestnut flour, water and salt, with a ricotta and honey stuffing. Sugar was only introduced later, as were iron griddles greased with lard for cooking.		Il castagnaccio Also known as baldino in the Province of Arezzo and ghirighio in the plains around Florence, this is a typical sweet dish in Tuscany and the Lunigiana. We even know the name of its “inventor”, a certain Pilade da Lucca, who is mentioned in a book that dates back to 1553. Castagnaccio is made by cooking a mixture of chestnut flour, shelled pine nuts, shelled walnuts, water, raisins, rosemary, olive oil and salt that is then garnished with more raisins and pine-nuts before cooking. Castagnaccio is best tasted as the sweet course at the end of a meal, accompanied by an excellent Vin Santo.		Il metato Chestnuts must be dried in order to be ground up. In Tuscany this process took place in the metato, a rustic building built where the chestnuts had been gathered. Sometimes on the Pistoian Apennines and in Garfagnana the metato was an actual part of the house: it often replaced the kitchen and was a meeting place, as vigils were also held there. The size of the metato depended on the size of the chestnut wood or on the quantity of chestnuts that needed to be dried. Today in Serra you can still visit a perfectly preserved metato near the Aia Porta.