EVENTS IN TUSCANY, NOVEMBER

MUSHROOM TIME

If you see people in the woods and they're not looking furtive then they're collecting chestnuts - if they are looking furtive then they're after funghi, preferably porcini. If you know a good spot for them then you're a lucky man, and you won't be telling anyone about it until you are on your deathbed.
There are all sorts of mushrooms to collect, but the wonderfully rich and pungent porcini are the prize, and it is these that you'll see for sale by the side of the road, particularly in the Garfagnana region of northern Tuscany.

MONTHLY MARKETS/FAIRS

LUCCA has a large antiques market (centred around Piazza San Giusto and Piazza Antelminelli) on the third Sunday (and preceding Saturday) of every month. There is also a craft fair, again in and around Piazza San Giusto, on the last Sunday (and preceding Saturday) of every month.

AREZZO has an enormous antiques market on the first Sunday (and preceding Saturday) of every month, centred around Piazza Grande and Piazza Vasari.

FLORENCE has its antique market on the last Sunday of every month in Piazza dei Ciompi.

CHESTNUT TIME

Very large areas of Tuscany, particularly in the North, are still covered in Chestnut - Castagna - forests, and it is during October that you'll first see the locals out in the woods to collect them. The timber is still used extensively in building, but the nut itself is no longer the staple that it once was. You'll see special pans for roasting the chestnut for sale everywhere (basically a frying pan full of holes), but if you don't have access to an open fire you can find hot-chestnut sellers in most towns leading up to Christmas.

OLIVE HARVEST

From November and often well into January you'll hear the thwacking of cane against branch as olive trees throughout Tuscany receive their yearly beating. The vast majority of olives are still picked by hand - nets are placed beneath the trees and the olives are knocked down by hitting the branches, though some purists have it that all olives must be pulled from the tree by hand - literally 'stroking' the twigs to pull off the olives. The olives are then sacked up and taken off to the nearest communal mill (frantoio) where they will be crushed to form a paste, spread out on circular hessian mats which are stacked one on top of the other to form an enormous stack of pancakes. This tower of mats and olives is then slowly pressed and the oil obtained is briefly put through a centrifuge to emerge green, fresh and slightly prickly to the taste. Wonderful stuff - no heat, no chemicals, no refining - they only do that when they're exporting it!

Clicking here will take you to the first of several pages with photographs and information that take you through the traditional olive oil production process from beginning to end.

TRUFFLES IN TUSCANY

Someone knowing a good spot for Porcini would probably not sell their family just to keep that secret. They wouldn't hesitate for a second however if they knew of a good spot for tartufi.
Incredibly valuable (though not quite as priceless as the black truffles of Piedmont), the Tuscan white truffle has two events dedicated to it during November. The town of San Giovanni d'Asso near Siena has tastings, truffle-hound contests, music and exhibitions over the first two full weekends of November; the town of San Miniato, near Pisa, has an exhibition from the 25th to the 27th of the month.