Chestnut flour

In Lunigiana, Visit Tuscany describes a food tradition sustained by chestnut trees, whose fruit was eaten whole or milled into flour. Its account of Farina di Castagne della Lunigiana DOP follows dried chestnuts through cleaning and stone milling, then into patona, cian, pasta and castagnaccio.

These dishes give the flour different jobs. Necci use it in a fluid batter cooked on hot plates and rolled around fresh ricotta; lasagne bastarde combine it with wheat flour in a dough. Farina di Castagne della Lunigiana DOP names a particular regional product. A recipe that specifies only chestnut flour does not identify that protected product.

In Lunigiana, Visit Tuscany presents chestnut flour in patona, lasagne bastarde, cian and castagnaccio. The flour is mixed with water for the simpler batters; the pasta dough combines it with wheat flour, water and egg. These are different preparations, not a single fixed formula.