At any rate, early Saturday morning the two buses rolled out headed to the town of Montella. It's in the same direction that I went a few weeks ago for the wine tour within 30 minutes of driving we were seeing mountains and valleys which I sometimes forget exist when I'm doing all my driving in/around Naples.
Our first stop on the Sagra della Castagna tour was one of the producers of the area. (Are you ready for some chestnut information because here is comes...) Montella is one of the top 3 towns that produce chestnuts. Just how many? Well, this region produces 50% of their product (60,000 tons) to the US market. The quality of their product is so high that they've been awarded a mark which is somewhat equivalent to the marks for the ones given to wines. At the production facility we learned how they were sorted by size before being placed on the second floor on a grate with a fire drying them out from the ground floor. Apparently only removing 13% of the humidity from the nut is key, as is being delicate with them as to avoid injury which can change their flavor. The ones roasted in this facility are roasted over chestnut wood fires and raked around with a shovel made from chestnut wood. The rooms were chalked full of chestnuts and pretty crazy looking.
After hearing about the process, we got to taste their products. I don't think I've had a chestnut until today and I think I picked the perfect time to try them in various forms: cooked with mushroom, made into a chocolate spread, soaked in rum, boiled, baked into cookies. And here I've thought for all these years that you could just roast them over an open fire while Jack Frost nips at your nose. (Um yes, we did keep singing that all day....you couldn't help it!) With roasted chestnuts purchased and a jar of the rum marinated ones (that look like little brains) we loaded back up on the bus to head to the Monastery of S. Francesco a Folloni.
At the Monastery we learned about Saint Francis by one of the friars living there. (Story time!) Many (many) years ago Saint Francis was passing through the area to visit a higher up. That night when he was sleeping under a tree there was a snow storm that covered the ground everywhere but under the tree he was under. The towns people begged him to stay but he had to continue on to his destination, but left two friars there. The church was then built where the tree had been. The original church is now under the building you see, which was built in 1743. They are in the middle of restoring it and in the process are excavating portions of the original church. The tour was pretty amazing, we actually could take pictures within the church, were shown books from the 1400s showing records of people, and also robes over 500 years old. We also saw the last remaining portion of a sack the bread was delivered in one very snowy winter when the friars were starving since they could not get food. After days of prayer, they opened their door and saw the sack full of bread but no footprints in the snow. They thought it was a miracle but in reality it was from France but they still recall that story for hope. After the 9/11 attacks, some of the friars took the swatch of the sack to NY as a symbol of hope.
Did I mention that the friar that was telling us all of this had the best outfit ever? He had jeans and a collared shirt on under his gray robe complete with a slight hoot and cord belt...which was covered in his down jacket. I really don't blame him though. It was freezing in that church! But that's not all, at one point during his presentation his cell phone rang. Yeah, not what I have in mind when I think friar or monk...which is why I love seeing these things!
Starving and a little frozen, we left the monastery around 2 to finally hit the Sagra della Castagna in the downtown area. First stop was food. Joe and I (did I mention he was on this tour too?) had found a couple at the production place where she had been on the trip last year. We practically drooled over her retelling of the melted cheese spread over bread and told them we'd be joining them on the search to find it again. Over our lunch of pasta (with chestnuts and mushrooms) and some local wine that required my newly acquired skill of wine blending we chatted. They were incredibly entertaining and just fun for being significantly older. Hey, it's true. At any rate with the hunger edge removed we started off our "cheese quest" which I told them I'd join if it included a side trip to the pastry booths we'd passed on our way to lunch. Not only did we need to find the fire melted cheese but also the sharp provolone she had purchased last year that her husband loved but we had several hours so off we went.
We didn't make it very far before finding the fire melted cheese smeared on bread with a tad of truffle cream. I think I could have stayed there the rest of the day eating it slice by slice, but we still had the second part of the cheese mission accomplish. After making it back to the main street we were once again distracted, this time by a booth of various liquor. Some looked (and tasted familiar like the melon creamy liquor you find in the limoncello stores in Sorrento. We had asked for a sample of the chestnut variety and a few communion cup samples later we had tried several, including a strawberry one that looked like cough syrup but tasted 1,000,000 times better. It didn't take much convincing and we each walked away with a bottle of the chestnut one. Hey, when at the chestnut festival you gotta purchase chestnuts!
As we continued to walk around the streets we saw every type of chestnuts possible and were handed samples from every booth- meats, cheese, olive oil, chestnuts and had to try a 50euro cent glass of wine! Yeah, no shortage of food. In the main piazza the cheese booth from last year was located and part two of the cheese mission was accomplished. Now time for the dessert part! I actually took a side trip to purchase "raw" chestnuts. Again, if this is what the region is known for, it's what I'm taking home with me. We wandered up the street and found a booth with a chocolate fountain. No big deal (shoot, my parents own one) but he was also selling cups of liquid chocolate. After our cookie-kebabs dipped in chocolate, we decided that the best euro (possibly EVER spent) was for the cup of chocolate. The vendor was super nice too and let me go behind the table for my "kid in candy shop" picture. I think he was just passing time because I didn't see many Italians walking around with cups of chocolate at 5pm.
Needless to say we did a ton of eating and it didn't stop there. I still needed some pastries! With a bottle of white wine in hand we headed back to the piazza to sit and enjoy it with a pastry while we people watched. Okay, they were watching people and I was starring at 3 young (really too young) Cabinieri officers across the street. We were off again to make sure we saw everything and in the process I may have found another pastry stand and left it with several thousand more calories. Our last stop was a small park while waiting for the bus to take us back home. It was in this park I found my first Italian bocce ball court. Next to it there was a statue, probably their patron saint, but she had a crown and held an orb like thing. I think it's their tribute to my bocce ball skills.
So it was a fabulous day. Much different in some regards than the other tours I've taken but still a blast and I loved learning some of the history of the town and really getting details of the production and monastery. Chestnuts and I will no longer be strangers and I may start blending them in with potatoes...since that's still what they taste like to me!
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