“Cuciarul” Romagnoli, a nice winter chestnut soup

Ingredients

for 2-4 people
300g dry chestnuts
1-2 bay leaves
1.5l water
pinch of salt

Preparation

Soak the chestnuts the night before if you have time.
Cook the dried chestnuts in water with a few bay leaves and a pinch of salt, for about 2 hours until they are tender. Check and add hot water to replace the evaporated one.

Enjoy them with their broth for an afternoon snack or as we say as “minestra” (soup) for lunch.
Another option can be to cook them for about 2 hours in wine with the addition of sugar, cinnamon, cloves and a little more wine at the end of cooking.

In the Middle Ages the most useful tree species was the chestnut. It was called “the bread tree” and the Cuciarul are part of the traditional products of Romagna.
Its fruits, chestnuts, were an irreplaceable food for the Alpine and Apennine populations. The chestnut tree represented for a long time the main source of food for the populations of the hilly and mid-mountain areas, especially in the years of grain famine.

Chestnuts were eaten fresh or dried, raw or cooked, boiled and roasted. They were also reduced to flour in the mills, to prepare dishes, focaccia, sweets such as castagnaccio.
The Cuciarul are a dish based on dry, skinned chestnuts, then soaked and boiled in water or flavored wine.

Once upon a time, the Romagna peasants were preparing, eating and offering them to guests during the long winter gatherings, together with roasted chestnuts (caldarroste) and chestnuts boiled in water with the addition of bay leaves (balotte).
They were also served in a tureen placed in the center of the table as an accompaniment to pasta in broth strictly handmade by the azdore or arzdore (rulers), the housewives who presided over the housekeeping.