Photographer Simone Batini is an Edge of Humanity Magazine contributor of this documentary photography. From the project ‘“The *Metato*, Chestnuts, and the Mill”’. To see Simone’s body of work, click on any photograph.

Today as Yesterday

“The *Metato*, Chestnuts, and the Mill”

In the Lucca area, chestnut cultivation lives on “Today as Yesterday” through the harvesting of chestnuts to produce flour—a staple food for local populations until the post-war period, particularly for communities bordering the mountainous zones of the Serchio Valley (Upper Tuscany). Here, chestnut growers keep this tradition alive using an ancient, multi-stage process: from maintaining the chestnut groves and clearing the undergrowth to the manual autumn harvest of the fruit, which is then placed in the *metato*.

The *metato* is a small, two-story stone building. On the ground floor, a fire is lit in a pit in the center of the floor; it is fueled with chestnut wood and covered with ash and *pula* (the husks from the previous year’s chestnuts). This creates a slow, controlled fire that releases heat and smoke, drying the chestnuts spread out on the upper floor.

The next step is the threshing process, carried out using a specialized internal-combustion machine. Dried chestnuts are fed into the top of the machine and emerge from the bottom stripped of their outer shells. The resulting semi-finished product is then refined through a cleaning process using a wooden tray known as an *arbuolo*. This step usually takes place near the *metato* or directly at the mill, where the chestnuts are manually cleaned and inspected one by one to remove any remaining traces of husk and *pisticci* (small bits of debris or imperfect fragments). Chestnut milling is a process entirely overseen by the miller: chestnuts placed in the upper section of the mill are fed into a hopper and slowly descend via a chute onto a sandstone millstone, which—spinning at approximately 120 revolutions per minute—transforms them into flour.

The flour resulting from this lengthy process is ideal for preparing traditional dishes such as *necci* (cooked in *testi*—special terracotta or iron discs), polenta, and *castagnaccio* (a classic local dessert), though it is also highly valued for use in many other recipes.

There is hope that this ancient art of chestnut cultivation and processing will be preserved and passed down through the generations, resisting the industrialization of the product; thanks to the efforts of the *Associazione Castanicoltori della Lucchesia* (Lucca Area Chestnut Growers’ Association) in recent years, many young people have once again taken an interest in chestnut cultivation.

The photographic series was created between 2019 and 2023, with a hiatus of approximately one year due to the COVID-19 health emergency.

Special thanks to the *Associazione Castanicoltori della Lucchesia* (Lucchesia Chestnut Growers’ Association) and the *Mulino Sant’Agostino* (Bertogli family) in Fabbriche di Vallico (Lucca).

My name is Simone Batini, I live in Italy, in the Tuscany region. I have been passionate about photography since I was a child. I have always tried to immortalize through images what struck me most. As I grew up and with the arrival of digital photography, I tried to learn more and more, and to date, I think I have reached a good level of competence, through the study of light, composition and the search for specific projects.

I like almost all photographic genres, personally I take very natural and truthful photography, for my shots I prefer the landscape and reportage genre, however I also practice other genres such as macro and street.

I am constantly looking for new stimuli to continue and improve my photographic growth path.

All images and text © Simone Batini