Chestnuts: a traditional food in the Alps

The basic products in the Alpine areas of Piedmont are the chestnuts (the famous Cuneo brown chestnut and the delicious white chestnut of Garessio and Pamparato), potatoes, wild berries, wild mushrooms, aromatic herbs and cheeses from the mountain pastures.

The meaty marrons glacès (candied chestnuts) and other pastry-making specialties are made from the fresh chestnut; cakes, pies and biscuits from the flour. The white chestnuts (the nut with its two layers of skin removed) are a sweet for connoisseurs. They are smoke-dried in the mountain "scau" (chestnuts drying hut) ovens for days and days, which gives them a slightly smoky flavour.

For a few years now in the autumn, Cuneo has held a very popular event called the Fiera del Marrone (Chestnut Fair), where chestnuts are roasted in braziers set up along the city streets. At Ceva, on the other hand, they organize the Fiera del Fungo (Mushroom Fair).

The 16th National Fair of the Brown will take place in Cuneo very soon: from the 16th to the 19th October 2014.

For more information about the Fair:

 http://www.italyrivieralps.com/2014/09/03/read-more/argomenti/business-1/articolo/16th-national-fair-of-the-brown-confirmed-in-cuneo-next-october.html