The season for foliage, chestnuts and truffles in Tuscany, Italy

Chestnuts in Tuscany: top foods, recepies and travels

A brief guide to the best chestnut-based products and specialties that you can find and taste around Tuscany.

The cultivation of chestnut trees for their nuts goes back to around 1000 CE.

Over the centuries, chestnuts have been a fundamental source of food for the inhabitants of the mountainous areas in Tuscany. Known also as “tree bread” (pan di legno), for many people it was the only daily food available.

Here is a brief guide to the best chestnut-based products and specialties that you can still find and taste around Tuscany.

Monte Amiata chestnut –: a sweet, delicate chestnut from the volcanic soils of the Amiata. The nuts, either boiled or roasted, marry perfectly with sweet muscat wines, gelato and custards.

Lunigiana chestnut flour – (Lunigiana – Massa Carrara): the chestnut flour from Lunigiana has a very fine texture and is ivory in colour. Traditional products made in Lunigiana from chestnut flour are bread and lasagne.

Mugello chestnut –(Mugello – Firenze): the IGP Mugello sweet chestnut is markedly sweet, peels easily and is not excessively floury or astringent. It boasts slight hints of vanilla flavour and smells like hazelnuts or fresh bread.

Garfagnana chestnut flour – (Garfagnana – Lucca): In the area around Garfagnana, a cultivar was created which is especially suited to the production of flour and chestnuts.

Caprese Michelangelo chestnut –(Caprese Michelangelo – Arezzo): you can recognise this traditional “marrone” thanks to its elliptical shape, unique scent and sweet taste. Due to these characteristics, it is excellent when roasted, glazed, peeled or boiled with fennel.

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