If I think of October, an image that says far this month, here I get a chestnut . E mi ricordo di quando, piccolina, seguivo i nonni nel bosco
accompagnata dal fedele Tilly, il cane della cascina accanto, che non
si allontanava da me nemmeno un attimo e mi apriva i sentieri di quel
bosco che, ogni domenica, era sempre più freddo.
Si sentivano gli spari dei cacciatori in lontananza, il profumo di foglie e di vento, il freddo umido sui capelli e sulle giacche.
Io e il mio cestino, qualche passo più avanti della nonna, a
raccogliere manciate di castagne, con l'acquolina in bocca al sol
pensiero del profumo di caldarroste.
Rientrati a casa, infreddoliti, tutti intorno alla stufa ad assistere
allo scoppiettio di quei piccoli dark fruits resting in a pan
that his grandfather had laundry by hand with hammer and nails.
And then around the table to peel those hot chestnuts
you get your hands dirty in black and had that unmistakable flavor.
The next day, back in town, her mother was boiling in a pressure cooker and
all week marked the end of
lunches and dinners.
been more than twenty years, and every Sunday in October grandmother, aunt and mother
back in those woods. Tilly is gone and I have grown up
but the smells and flavors I have not forgotten.
When they find a little 'more than usual grandmother uses,
for conservation, an ancient but still effective method: the novena. This method involves
and a series of operations lasting 9 days for this reason it is commonly called a "novena."
dive chestnuts fresh, clean any residue from the ground, in water layers which must not exceed 20cm.
Until the fourth day, every day, you have to change half the water.
the fifth day, the water must be replaced entirely.
The next two days will change nuovemente 50% of water and on the eighth day will change the total.
the ninth day they take off all the chestnuts water and are arranged in baskets as possible in ventilated rooms.
Castegnato In this way you can keep fresh and tasty at least until Christmas.
With Castegnato dried and subsequently ground, however, is produced from chestnut flour, also called sweet flour.
This flour is the main ingredient of noodles with chestnut Grandpa Mario :
good if served with ricotta softened with cream or milk or
simply with boiling water, mixed with a pinch of pepper and parmesan cheese.
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