13 Oct 2009

The fall is probably my favourite season. In Tuscany there is a wealth of delicious seasonal products: chestnuts, porcini mushrooms, white truffles, the new olive oil, and vino novello (the new wine).

The delicious autumn products of Tuscany

The fall is probably my favourite season. The weather is mostly pleasant, the countryside is really beautiful with the leaves changing colour on the trees, the mists in the morning, the sun low on the horizon, and the hot pink cyclamens in bloom; the air smells of firewood and the earth of rain!

Another remarkable part of the fall in Tuscany is the wealth of delicious seasonal products: chestnuts, porcini mushrooms, white truffles, the new olive oil, and vino novello (the new wine) are all autumn products. For meat lovers, this is also the time of the year when you can eat fresh game, since the hunting season is open. Wild boar, hare and pheasant meat is quite easy to find if you live in a rural area.

Chestnuts

In my village, there is a chestnut grove known as “i castagneti“, which is the village park. Generation after generation, all the children growing up in the village spend their first years walking and playing in this park.

I have many fond memories of my childhood years, when my great-grandmother or my grandmother used to take me to the park on our way home from the school bus stop. In the fall, we would always look for chestnuts. I remember how much fun it was breaking husks with my feet and removing the chestnuts, trying not to prick myself with the thin brown thorns. Trying to take the skin off the small chestnuts was not as much fun, because for the most part they were just wild chestnuts, and not the delicious large ones called “marroni“. Only few of the trees in the park produced that type and it was quite hard to find them, because obviously we were not the only ones engaging in this activity.

A great place to pick chestnuts is Monte Amiata: there are some amazing chestnut groves up there. They are an “Igp product” (Indicazione Geografica Protetta – meaning that this is a product found only in this area). They are eaten roasted and boiled. Chestnut flour is used to make cakes, pasta, gnocchi and a delicious dessert called “castagnccio“, similar to a thick pudding with pine nuts, raisins and rosemary. There is even a brewery near Castel del Piano producing chestnut beer called La Bastarda Rossa (literally “the red bastard”)!

Chestnuts are typical of many other areas of Tuscany, such as Garfagnana, Casentino, Mugello and Lunigiana.

Interesting resources on the topic:

Mushrooms and truffles

There are many types of mushrooms, but the most valued type is “porcino“. Mushroom picking season is the fall, although in some areas, if it rains enough, it is sometimes possible to find them in the late summer as well.

Mushroom picking is a regulated activity in Italy. You need a license that is generally obtained after attending a course. You also need to be 14 or older.

It is extremely important to know the different types of mushrooms, because some can be very toxic.

Generally “only” a maximum of 3kg (6lb) of mushrooms can be picked at one time. No tools can be used for picking, and mushrooms must be placed in wicker-type baskets to ensure that the spores are disseminated as pickers walk through the woods. Using bags is illegal.

Here are a really useful page on mushroom picking in Tuscany and an interesting page on porcini mushrooms.

Truffles are very expensive as they are very hard to find. They grow underground and you need trained dogs (or pigs!) to find them. In Tuscany two towns are especially famous for truffles: San Giovanni d’Asso in Val d’Orcia (Siena area) and San Miniato, near Pisa. They host two important fairs dedicated to Tuscan white truffles:  Mostra mercato nazionale del tartufo bianco in San Miniato and the Mostra mercato del tartufo bianco in San Giovanni d’Asso, also home to a museum.

Other interesting pages dedicated to truffles:

It is possible to go truffle hunting (we can help you arrange a day trip dedicated to truffles).

Here are a couple of articles dedicated to this incredible experience:

Comments

  1. We so miss the porcini!!! You can’t get them here, and I haven’t had any mushrooms that compare to them. Guess we’ll have to wait until next Sept/Oct.

  2. kittie howard

    You mentioned marroni chestnuts. I bought some white almonds from Spain that are called Marroni Almonds, apparently from a special region there. Does this mean that Marroni almonds are real almonds?

  3. I don’t know. Almonds and Chestnuts are two different things, so I suppose what you bought in Spain were in fact almonds. Marroni are large chestnuts. The best variety.

  4. Anand Nirgude

    I and my wife are coming to tuscany for eight night between 15th 22nd October.we are image group of 55-60.
    I am keen photographer and will scout for good landscapes of tuscany hills, towns and wineries in fall colors. Please suggest me a itinerary beginning from florence to end at Rome airport.
    Thanks
    Anand

    • Via Chiantigiana, passing through Siena and the Crete – Valdorcia or the Maremma.

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