castagna

Similar to the marrone, but generally a bit coarser in texture. Several chestnut varieties, the Castagna di Cuneo (Piedmont), Castagna di Montella (Campania), and the Castagna di Monte Amiata (Tuscany) have IGP status.

The castagna di Vallerano, grown near Viterbo (Lazio) is DOP.

The castagne del prete, the 'priest's chestnuts' are in the Slow Food Presidium. There were originally made in Irpinia, in Avellino province in Campania: chestnuts were peeled, dried slowly on a smouldering chestnut wood fire for 15 days then roasted in the oven (castagne infornate), then re-hydrated in water and wine, bringing out their sweetness and preserving them. The 'limp' chestnuts (castagne mosce) that were rejected were strung together like rosary beads and hung, but today castagna del prete are made that way on purpose all across Campania and are popular around Christmas.

An annual Sagra delle Castagne, complete with traditional games and costumes, takes place in Soriano nel Cimino (Lazio) the first and second weekends in October.