Corsican chestnut flour

Farine de châtaigne corse – Farina castagnina corsa

What it is

The nuts, from local Corsican varieties only, are gathered once fallen between 1 October and 31 December, then dried for at least eighteen days over a fire of chestnut, alder, strawberry-tree, heather, ash, beech or oak, fed with the nuts' own shells and inner skins — or six days in a forced-air dryer. Crushing is banned; granite, flint or schist millstones grind them until at least 70% passes a 106-micron sieve.

In the kitchen

Read the label: passé au four (infurnata or affurnata) means the dried nuts were baked in a wood-fired oven before milling, for a deeper biscuit flavour. Sift it twice before use, and keep the bag tightly closed — it takes up damp and clumps.

Goes with

Brocciu Figatellu Lonzu Cervione hazelnut Myrtle Honey Egg Olive oil

Same species

Ardèche chestnut Cévennes chestnut Chestnut Chestnut cream Chestnut flour Chestnut honey

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