GARFAGNANA & SERCHIO VALLEY TOURISM ASSOCIATION - OFFICIAL WEBSITE
Typical products
Garfagnana Farro IGP
Farro is one of the oldest cereals amongst those known and used today. The variety cultivated in the Garfagnana, which is perfectly adapted to the environment has developed binomially, making it completely different to the farro grown in other zones. It wears the IGP (Indication of a Protected Geography) classification proudly. Farro is particularly adapted to the preparation of savoury tarts and soups, and turned into flour, to make pasta, bread and biscuits. It is also used to make pizza, beer and ice cream.
Farina di Neccio of the Garfagnana DOP
This is a product known for its quality in the Garfagnana. It is the most important method of preserving the production of chestnuts cultivated in the valley at the end of the seventh and eighth centuries AD. The production starts in the chestnut grove. After the nuts are gathered they are taken to a metato, a stone building which is used to dry the chestnuts. After a slow drying, (not less than 40 days) the chestnuts are sorted and taken to a mill where they are turned into chestnut flour, (Farina di Neccio) DOP signifies a mark of quality guaranteeing the product came from a protected area. The flour is used to make chestnut polenta, chestnut crepes, chestnut cake and fritters. Lately there have been innovations using chestnut flour as an ingredient in first courses and main courses. Chestnut flour does not contain gluten and is ideal for coeliacs.
Wine from the Mountains
Since time immemorial in the Garfagnana and the Serchio Valley vines have been cultivated to produce wine. Traditionally they were cultivated to produce wine for private consumption. During the last decades many vineyards fell into disuse. In the last few years some pioneers have started to make wine again from old vineyards which have been restored, and planted with new stock. Thanks to a mix of tradition and innovation some surprisingly good wines have been produced, and they have attained notable success.
Cheese
Cheese and ricotta are indelibly joined to ancient agrarian, woodland and pastoral traditions. Today, in many villages shepherds make cheese just as their grandparents made it. In summer the flocks are led to the mountain pastures. One of the principal cheeses is "Pecorino della Garfagnana", sheep's milk cheese, obtained from the Massese sheep raised in the meadows, and "Accasciato", a sheep's milk cheese, but often a mix of sheep's milk and cow's milk, which is eaten fresh or after a brief ageing (40-60 days). Traditional ricotta is used in cooking, and it is also very good eaten fresh with honey.
Mushrooms
From May to October during periods in which rain is followed by a mild and windless period, porcini (Boletus spp.) grow in chestnut, Holm oak and beech woods. They are gathered by hand and are eaten fresh (especially fried), dried, or preserved in oil. Traditionally they are dried and preserved in hermetically sealed jars which maintain their pleasing taste, their white colour and their characteristic scent. Mushrooms preserved in oil maintain their fleshy consistency and can be eaten with salami, cheese and potato bread.
Bread
Bread made from a mix of cereal flours and vegetables was common throughout Europe in past times. A refined variation was the addition of boiled potatoes to the bread mix, which in Tuscany made the bread tasty, soft and able to be kept for longer periods. According to local tradition bread was baked only once a week, generally on Saturday, and it had to keep until the next baking. Big loaves of one or two kilos, cut into slices were coupled with local salamis: salami, blood sausage, mondiola, lard and bacon.
Casciana Apples and lesser fruits
Casciana apples are a very old variety. They are rounded, slightly flattened at the ends, with hard, white flesh, perfumed and with a sweet-sharp taste. It is a variety which keeps for a long time, for most of winter, and in the local tradition the apples are kept fresh in cellars by arranging the fruit on the floor in a single layer. Linked with the Casciana apple are other fruits like the sorb apple, green pears or "dal macon", many local varieties which farmers have kept alive in order to retain the flavours known in the past.
Honey
The abundant variety of vegetation in the valley is the base of honey production. Some apiarists through the use of diverse pastures are able to produce a variety of honeys such as Millefiori (thousand flowers), Acacia honey and chestnut honey. This last one with its amber colour and intense flavour and scent is the most characteristic. It has a strong taste and is rich in glucose and therefore has a tendency to crystallise. Honey can be used as a sweetener or can be eaten alone or paired with fresh cheeses such as ricotta or with aged cheeses like sheep's milk cheese.
Trout
Trout from the Garfagnana are filleted. The colour is pale yellow, which is their natural. They are lightly floured and turn golden when cooked. When presented, the fillets are immersed in a marinade of oil, vinegar and fresh herbs. This product forms part of the culinary tradition of the valley. In past centuries, times were difficult and it was important to preserve produce, for as long as possible, especially produce which had a brief season.
Formenton otto file (Maize)
From cormeal "otto file", also known as "Formenton", is made the flour from which yellow polenta is made. It is ground in a water mill and there is no substitute on the tables of the farm workers for many months of the year. Polenta accompanied by baked mushrooms, with rabbit cooked "hunter's style", or, with Bolognese sauce and grated cheese are frequent ways of serving it. Flavoured with a single herring it was an excellent meal. It is best eaten hot, or, when cold , cut into slices and fried.