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Fruit & Vegetables

Every year in November everyone in Tirol looks forward to their beloved chestnuts which are devoured together with bread, bacon and ‘new wine’ in the course of the popular ‘Törggelen’ nights. Chestnut trees are inseparably associated with South Tirol but also in Tirol the fall menu can no longer do without them.

Although the sweet chestnut trees are not as common as in former times when they provided a nutritious aliment especially for the poor population they have been grown in Tirolean towns such as Ötz in the Ötztal valley up to the present day.

Being an extraordinarily versatile fruit, chestnuts can be prepared in a whole variety of ways. Whether you roast or cook them, round off a dish of red cabbage or use them to prepare a filling for roast venison or fine chocolates, chestnuts always taste just great.

During the winter months chestnut vendors not only roast the exquisite fruit in many Tirolean towns but also on the numerous village markets where they create a very special flair with the fine scent of roasted chestnuts emerging from their kettles.
A number of Oberleutasch and Telfs chestnut-vendor songs from around 1900 tell us about the authentic atmosphere radiated by the fruit vendors, indicating that the population of the entire Ziller Valley – and women in particular! - were especially keen on the culinary delight.

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