APULICA / FRUIT, VEGETABLES AND PULSES
Marrone di Serino / Castagna di Serino (chestnut)
PGI · Fruit, vegetables and pulses · Campania
In brief
- A chestnut of the Santimango and Verdola varieties, sold fresh, peeled or dried, in or out of the shell. (Qualigeo — Marrone di Serino IGP)
- The area covers Serino and other municipalities around Avellino, plus some in the province of Salerno such as Giffoni Valle Piana. (Qualigeo — Marrone di Serino IGP)
- It is harvested from 25 September to 5 November, on volcanic soils where chemical weeding is not allowed. (Qualigeo — Marrone di Serino IGP)
- In the Middle Ages the monks of Cava dei Tirreni and Montevergine helped spread chestnut growing in the area. (Qualigeo — Marrone di Serino IGP)
History and origin
In the Serino valley the chestnut tree has very old roots: according to the specification, archaeological studies show it was widespread as early as the Palaeolithic, while the first cultivated chestnut groves date back to Roman times.
In the Middle Ages monks made it a crop of the whole area. The Campania Region recalls the Benedictines of Cava de' Tirreni, who between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries tended and improved the fruit groves on their estates in the Picentini Mountains, between the provinces of Avellino and Salerno; the specification adds the work of the monks of Montevergine. This is how the area, favoured by climate and soils, became the chestnut's chosen land.
Legal records from 1532 document fruit chestnut groves around Serino, and in 1548 transfers of groves are recorded at Santo Stefano del Sole. The chestnut took its name from the town of Serino and has been a PGI since 2018 under the double name Marrone di Serino or Castagna di Serino.
Sources: Qualigeo — Marrone di Serino IGP · Regione Campania — Marrone/Castagna di Serino IGP · eAmbrosia — Marrone di Serino (PGI-IT-02147)
Area and method of production
The production area includes Serino, Solofra, Montoro, San Michele di Serino, Santa Lucia di Serino, Santo Stefano del Sole, Sorbo Serpico, Salza Irpina, Chiusano San Domenico, Cesinali, Aiello del Sabato, Contrada and Forino in the province of Avellino, and Giffoni Valle Piana, Giffoni Sei Casali, San Cipriano Picentino, Castiglione del Genovesi and Calvanico in the province of Salerno. According to the Region the groves cover about 3,600 hectares.
The soils are volcanic, free of limestone and rich in minerals, and humidity is high thanks to large aquifers. The permitted varieties are Santimango and Verdola. Trees are trained to a full canopy and pruned at least every five years; after planting the soil is not tilled, so that a thick grass cover can develop.
The specification bans chemical weedkillers, allows only organic fertilisers and the integrated pest management set by the Region. Harvest runs from 25 September to 5 November, by hand or with suitable machines, with a maximum of three tonnes per hectare; sorting and sizing are done by hand or by machine.
Sources: Qualigeo — Marrone di Serino IGP · Regione Campania — Marrone/Castagna di Serino IGP
How to recognise it
The nut is medium to large, round and mostly asymmetrical, with the characteristic medium-large star-shaped tuft and rarely divided inside by partitions. The shell is glossy brown, with well-marked, widely spaced dark stripes.
The flesh is milky white, with shallow grooves, firm and crisp, with a sweet taste. Among the qualities the Campania Region highlights are easy peeling, large size and good behaviour in processing, even at the high temperatures of sterilisation, without loss of quality.
It is sold fresh, peeled, dried in the shell or dried and shelled whole, also vacuum-packed, in protective atmosphere or frozen.
Sources: Qualigeo — Marrone di Serino IGP · Regione Campania — Marrone/Castagna di Serino IGP
In the kitchen
Fresh chestnuts are eaten mostly boiled or roasted, and are used for jams and marrons glacés, a preparation for which their sweetness and easy peeling make them especially suitable.
Dried chestnuts, in or out of the shell, star in a recipe typical of the production area: «marroni del prete», dried chestnuts prepared according to local tradition.
To keep them at their best, store them in a cool, dry place. Thanks to the various forms in which it is sold, from fresh to dried to frozen, the Serino chestnut reaches the kitchen well beyond the harvest season.
Sources: Qualigeo — Marrone di Serino IGP · Regione Campania — Marrone/Castagna di Serino IGP
Where to taste it
The groves of the Serino chestnut cover the valleys and slopes of the Picentini Mountains, between Irpinia and the Salerno area: Serino, Santa Lucia and San Michele di Serino, Solofra and Montoro on the Avellino side, Giffoni Valle Piana, Giffoni Sei Casali and San Cipriano Picentino on the Salerno side. These villages lie a short distance from Avellino, surrounded by green woodland.
The best time is autumn, between late September and early November, when the groves are harvested and roasting chestnuts scent the air. The protection consortium is based in Serino, in the hamlet of Rivottoli.
Out of season, dried chestnuts and processed products such as jams and marrons glacés keep the flavour available all year round.
Sources: Qualigeo — Marrone di Serino IGP · Regione Campania — Marrone/Castagna di Serino IGP
Protection
- Protected geographical indication (PGI) — PGI-IT-02147 (eAmbrosia — Marrone di Serino (PGI-IT-02147))
When
- Harvest: September–November (Qualigeo — Marrone di Serino IGP)
- Autumn