You’re in Moghegno, at the entrance to the Maggia Valley, as lots of children all around you are “emptying the grà”: it’s a great celebration. What’s it all about?
As you’ve been told, a grà is a type of ancient chestnut storage building found in almost all of Ticino’s towns. However, there only a few are still in use today: in Moghegno, Vezio and Muggio.
Arranged over two floors, a fire is lit on the ground floor, which has to be kept alight and smoking constantly for around three weeks (between October and November). Upstairs, several hundred kilos of chestnuts are spread over a grate to dry. Once they’ve been cleaned, they are ground and the flour is used to make all sorts of delicious things!
You didn’t know any of this until a few weeks ago, when you happened to pass through Moghegno and you saw a crowd of curious children, each holding a small bag of chestnuts gathered in the woods. You asked what was happening and they told you that it’s an ancient tradition, which dates back to when chestnuts were the main food source in Ticino and the plant they grew on was simply known as “the tree”.
A prickly little treasure
Chestnuts are associated with history, food, tradition and fun in Ticino. Every child has visited one of the many chestnut woods dotted throughout the canton to gather these delicious nuts that can be roasted in their shells or turned into tasty vermicelles, a delicious flour, crunchy cereal or an aromatic beer. While tasting these products can be a real journey of discovery, learning about how they are made is also full of surprises.
The roast chestnuts you enjoy so much in Ticino’s squares, warmed by the autumn sun, are now flavoured with history too.
Even walks through the chestnut woods with your family have become more interesting. You sing the song known to every child in Ticino: “sotto il castagno / cresce un funghetto …” (under the chestnut tree / a mushroom grows ...) and your happiness knows no bounds.
Your children love looking for chestnuts and you are enjoying it too. It almost reminds you of hunting for Easter eggs.
You might be interested also in the following story
I’m stubborn when it comes to the ingredients for my cheese. I would never buy milk that came from another valley because that would change the identity of a zincarlin cheese.Read the story
IN THE SURROUNDINGS
USEFUL INFO
Do you like gathering chestnuts but don’t know what to do with them? During the autumn in Ticino there are four collection centres in a Cadenazzo, Muzzano, Stabio and Biasca that will repay you for your efforts.
CONTACTS
Ascona-Locarno Turismo
Infodesk Maggia
Centro commerciale
6673 Maggia
T +41 848 091 091
F +41 91 759 76 94
[email protected]
www.ascona-locarno.com
WHAT TO LISTEN TO
OTHER EXPERIENCES
Discovering a place with a thousand surprises
- 24 September – 11.00
- 18°
- Funny
A journey through the wonders of the Malcantone
- 21 July – 14.30
- 28°
- 18°
- Nostalgic
240 million years old, but it doesn’t show
- 11 November – 13.30
- 14°
- 583 m
- Nostalgic
Feel lucky?
Discover a random experience among many of Ticino.