The mild autumn is the best season to enjoy the delicious products of Garda Trentino. Mushrooms, pumpkins and chestnuts. The latter is the autumn fruit par excellence and you can find them in all autumn markets. The farmers of the past used to call it “the poors’ bread” because it is good and it satisfies the hunger. Here, at Garda Trentino, this fruit grows in the surrounding woods, where the foliage makes them look like awesome paintings.
Chestnuts De.Co. in Campi
The chestnuts of Campi and the «purea salada», made with the chestnuts of Campi – a little hamlet near Riva del Garda – got the De.Co mark, a recognition obtained after a long exposition to the chestnut-growing of Riva and of the chestnut trees in Campi. An important recognition for the local cultivations – it also includes other cultivations of the “Busa” – that is given to natural products that are partly certified as Organic. The disciplinary is strict and imposes a harvest by hand. The Associazione Tutela Marrone di Campi keeps a close watch on it to be sure all rules are respected to guarantee the productivity and the environment protection.
How to harvest it
To harvest the chestnut, you must respect some specific regulations – you will find signs with the rules. Anyway, we recommend you to pay attention to the days when the harvest is allowed – some days are reserved to the locals. The best period goes from mid-October to the end of November.
Before leaving, remember you will be going to the woods so you need to wear adequately and to wear a pair of gloves because the burrs can wounds. Usually, the burrs contain 2 or 3 chestnuts.
The bigger chestnuts (“marroni” in Italian) are perfect for the marrons glacés and are the protagonists of the festivals and dedicated menus of the autumn project called Vacanze con Gusto.
Do you know some chestnut-based recipes? Our granmas knew that this fruit are great for our health and a delicious product for their recipes! We have already told you about the “purea salada” (very easy to make at home, too), the “chestnut sweet” with a yummy coffee cream and a chestnut heart. Then soups, creams, desserts. Can you suggest us other recipes to taste the De.Co. chestnuts? Comment below! We are also waiting for some suggestions to enjoy this marvellous Mother Nature’s gift given us while the woods “fall into sleep” and gradually get into an orange, yellow and red nuance. No artist is better than Mother Nature and we are looking forward to tasting this fruit here at Garda Trentino, the place of excellence.
