If you see cars parked along the side of the road in the hills of Tuscany in late October, there's a good chance that people are in the woods gathering chestnuts. The secret to roasting chestnuts on a grill is to sprinkle red wine over the chestnuts. At the chestnut festival in Cecina they cook pancakes called necci from chestnut batter. They fill the freshly cooked necci with either fresh ricotta or Nutella. Delicious!

Vocabulary And Secrets

1. Raw chestnuts are castagne. Be careful when peeling away the spiny outer jacket. After you've gotten the nuts out, you can use a knife to break the hard shells and try eating them raw!

2. Roasted chestnuts are frugiate. Try this: sprinkle red wine over them while roasting them on the open grill.

3. With the flour made from chestnuts you can make a great torte called castagnaccio.

4. The pancakes are called necci, and are filled with fresh ricotta and sometimes a hazelnut chocolate spread. They're cooked between two metal plates over an open fire.

5. Festivals are called Sagre. We went to the Sagra di Castagne in Cecina, 10 minutes from Pistoia.

Resources

Divina Cucina
www.divinacucina.com
Listing of fall festivals in Tuscany

Slow Travelers Italy
www.slowtrav.com
Listing of Fall Festivals in Tuscany

Italian Holidays, Festivals and Street Parties
www.hostetler.net
An amazing database of festivals in Italy by region or month, compiled by an American family that lives in Italy