Neccio (pl.:necci), also calledniccio,ciaccio orcian, is agalette based onchestnut flour, typical ofsome mountain zones ofTuscany andEmilia, in Italy, and of the island ofCorsica, in France.
Today people tend to considerneccio adessert, but peasants once used to eat it with savory food.[1]
The Italian government has declaredneccio aprodotto agroalimentare tradizionale (PAT) of Tuscany.[2]
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Neccio is typical ofPescia and thePistoia Mountains, the Lucchesia, the upperVersilia, theGarfagnana, the Frignano and the upperReno Valley. It is also prepared on the French island of Corsica.
InGarfagnana, a region of Tuscany,neccio is a term that designates thechestnut nut[3] and its derivatives.
Other names used forneccio areciaccio (in Versilia, upper Garfagnana and Frignano),[4]cian (inLunigiana),[5]caccìn (in theprovince of La Spezia),panèlla (Sestri Levante and surroundings),castagnaccio orpatolla (having a more consistent dough) ornicciu (inCorsica).[6]
The dough is made with chestnut flour, water, and a little salt.[7] In thePistoia area, chestnut flour is stored in special chestnut wood containers calledbigonce orbugni, or in woodencrates calledarconi, from which the flour flakes are taken and strained through a sieve, then chopped by hand. Cooking is difficult and requires both a considerable expertise and either special discs calledtesti, made of fire-quenchedsandstone, pre-heated on the fireplace fire,[8] or iron discs with long handles, namedferri orforme, which must be placed on the surface of the wood stove. Today thetesti are more used on the Bolognese side of theApennines, while in the Pistoia mountains the most-used tools are theferri.
Cooking withtesti is particularly complex. Chestnut leaves are harvested in summer duringwaning moon and left to soak in lukewarm water. They prevent thenecci from sticking to thetesto and transmitting their aroma and taste. After thetesti have been heated in the fireplace, three to four leaves are laid on atesto, then a ladle of dough is put on them, then three to four more leaves and another hottesto, and so on, until a pile (named "castellina") is formed.[9] Thetesti's pile is framed by an iron holder tool which stabilizes it. Usually one would pile up one of more rows oftesti for 10–20necci per row, with decreasing diameter from bottom to top. After two to three minutes thenecci are ready and the pile is dismounted.
After cooking, thenecci are generally stuffed withricotta cheese (sometimes enriched with darkchocolate chips and/orcandied fruit) and rolled up to take the shape of acannolo.
Neccio can be consumed in these ways:
Media related toNeccio at Wikimedia Commons
