Chestnut

An emblematic fruit

Did you know that?

The Corsicans even maintain an effective relationship with this fruit which is celebrated every year during the chestnut fair in the village of Bocognano in the Gravona valley every first week of December. This festival has become a must for professionals in the sector and for craftsmen in general.

Pascal Paoli said “ As long as there’s a Chestnut tree, we shall have bread”.

The chestnut is a key figure of the Corsican history, and the reason its people did not starve. The fruit is mostly used to produce the chestnut flour, protected in AOP since 2010, which is particularly sweet with a characteristic taste. The chestnut flour is used in a lot of traditional recipes, but especially to make “a pulenta” the most typical meal in Corsica, to be eaten with brocciu and figatellu.
In Bocognano, every year in early december, there is a chestnut fair “A Fiera di a Castagna”. Since 1983 a group of volunteers have celebrated the chestnut and its many products, but also the traditional Corsican crafts and products, gathering up to 20 000 visitors each year.