The chestnut festival season is in full swing in our part of the world.  I’d written a post listing all the main ones within easy reach of Bagni di Lucca at https://longoio3.com/2018/09/21/nuts-about-chestnuts/ .

We went to the castagnata at Lucchio last weekend. Quite a small affair it was delightfully intimate and the setting of the hill-town, which seems to hold onto the precipitous slope for dear life, was spectacular.

We first visited the rocca, or castle, which acted as the last defence post of the republic of Lucca for several centuries. It must have been massively impregnable at its height, enough to frighten away any enemy whether Florentine or Pistoian and even today, in its ruinous state, it presents an impressive picture. The views from the castle are to die for: one can see the whole length of the Lima valley and beyond with such mountains as the Balzo Nero and Monte Giovo.

For the castagnata, the castle was newly assaulted, this time, however, by a merry group of young people who were having great fun with a somewhat noisy drone.

We weaved our way through the precipitous streets to reach the village’s parish church of San Pietro, a sweet building largely reconstructed in the late nineteenth century.

Here the main event was taking place. We treated ourselves to necci con ricotta (chestnut pancake filled with cottage cheese) and a glass of vin brulée which was definitely needed now that the evenings are becoming ever chillier.

In the adjoining church hall there was an interesting exhibition which included a slide show on different types of mills.

There was an example of a necci toaster.

The chestnut pancakes are cooked between heated stones in a pile – most ingenious..

It was a lovely way to spend an afternoon in convivial company and a good excuse to visit a village which, despite the difficulties of living there, still retains forty permanent inhabitants and in summer is filled with emigrants (largely to France) returning to their ancestral roots.

On the way out I glanced up at the mansion, perched on a hill at the entrance to the village, which was once Lady Anna Harley’s, Countess of Oxford, summer residence and dates from the 1840’s. The ‘Villa San Giorgio’ is now in a ruinous state, abandoned by its subsequent owners, but there are plans for restoring it.

I have managed to find out the following about Lady Harley. She was born in 1803, the fifth child of Jane Harley, Countess of Oxford, who became Lord Byron’s mistress in 1811. Lady Anne Harley married Signor Giovanni Battista Rabitti, Count of Saint George and thus was titled ‘Contessa Anna Harley Rabitti di San Giorgio’. Her husband died in 1845 leaving the countess with three children.

This gelatine photograph shows Anne Harley together with them. I estimate it must date from the 1860s. But is it really a photograph from life or a photograph of a lost painting?

Anne published a ‘Catalogo Poliglotto delle Piante’ in 1870. It’s a glossary of plant names with their equivalent name in several, mainly European, languages.

Do note the dedication  to George Bentham by the author.  George Bentham, CMG FRS FLS (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884), was an English botanist, described by botanist Duane Isely as “the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century”. He was also a distinguished researcher at Kew gardens; the dedication to him by the countess just shows what important academic links she maintained.  I wonder if that amazing botanic artist who travelled the world and whose pictures are collected in a custom-built gallery at Kew, Marianne North, knew both George Bentham and Anne Harley?

As the introduction states:

“Lady Anne Harley has spent many years in the compilation of this volume, which, we think, may prove useful to travellers on the Continent, and indeed, might even be made the means of instruction in our public schools. As an example, we select the Bellis perennis, which, a native of Europe, we find is, in English Daisy; French, Paquerette, Marguerite vivace, Fleur de Pâques; Italian, Pratolina, Margheritina de Prati; Spanish, Maya, la Margarita; German, Masslieben Gänse Blümchen, Angerblume, Osterblümchen. But we find not only the European names of a large number of plants given, but even in some instances, the Sanskrit, Bengal, Hind and Tamul names are also appended.”

Here is a entry dealing with dandelions from the volume. I’m grateful to my friend Marco Barsanti for sending me a link to download it.

2639. leontodon officinalis vide Taraxa- cum dens Leonis. — Eng. Dandelion common. —
Fr. Dent de Léon. — Ital. Dente di Leone. Radicchio.
Capo di frate. Soffione. Stella gialla. — Esp.
Amargon. Taraxacon.
2640. leontopodiuin alpinum ^ Eur.
Sibir. syn. L. vulgare. — Eng. Lions’, foot alpine. — Fr. Pied de Lion des Alpes. — Ital. Piede di Leone alpino. — Esp. Pie de Leon, alpino. — D.
G. All. Lòwenfuss, alpen.

Clearly the countess fell in love with the Lima valley and its villages and, as a naturalist, contributed significantly to the classification and collection of flora and fauna in this part of Tuscany. She must have been a very enterprising woman to come to these parts especially in an age when women were supposed to lead subservient and conventional lives. Anne died in 1874 and I just wish I could find out more about this remarkable person.

One of the people we met in Lucchio was Daniela (or Danièle) who lives in Paris and comes to Lucchio for her holidays. She is very knowledgeable about the village and we gathered this story about ‘Mariona’s doughnut’ from her.

At that time, the countess Anna’s beautiful villa, like other houses in the village, had no running water. People would go to the “Old Fountain” to get water and wash their clothes.

The countess brought with her as helpmate a young girl called Marie, who was nick-named Mariona.

One day, the girl brought a recipe for a cake that her mother was preparing for her to bring to the countess. Lady Harvey called this cake “Mariona’s doughnut”.

This is Mariona’s doughnut recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

– 500 g of flour

– 400 g of sugar (300 g are sufficient)

– 4 eggs

– 50 g of melted butter

– 1 packet of brewer’s yeast or 1 of dried yeast

– a pinch of salt

– 2 glasses of milk

– 1 small glass of cognac

– 1 glass of anise liqueur (pebble or other)

– Italian baking powder like ‘Pane degli Angel’.

 

PREPARATION:

In a container, mix the flour with sugar, yeast and a pinch of salt. (If you use brewer’s yeast melt it in some milk or water)

Add the egg yolks (keep the egg whites) then gradually pour in the milk, melted butter, cognac and aniseed liqueur, stirring well to avoid the formation of lumps.

Finally add the egg whites, stirring in gently.

If you use brewer’s yeast, let the dough rest for 1 or 2 hours in a cool place.

Preheat the oven to 180 ° C

Place the mixture in a mould from 23 to 26 cm, wide (preferably with a hole in the centre) and bake for about 45 minutes.

Allow it to cool before removing it from the mould.

Enjoy at tea-time or as a dessert.

PS As I still have to get the cognac I haven’t tried this recipe yet. Anyone who does is welcome to send me a photo of their efforts and I shall be glad to publish it in my blog.

 

PS If you haven’t been to a castagnata yet you’re still in time for the one at Barga from the 2nd to the 4th November.