CHESTNUT FRITTERS (GIMIGLIANO-STYLE)

Mix 300 grams of chestnut flour with enough water to make a smooth creamy batter . Add 4 tablespoons of olive oil and a pinch of salt.
Heat a tablespoon of oil in a frying pan. Add 3 or 4 tablespoonfuls of the batter and press into patties. Fry on both sides until golden. Remove to a rack covered with absorbent paper to drain.
Pour a tablespoon of chestnut jam over each fritter.
Place fritters onto a buttered oven tray .
Bake in a hot oven (200°C) for about 5 minutes.
Serve with icing sugar .

Gimigliano is a small town of about 4,000 inhabitants, situated 19 km from the regional capital Catanzaro.
It’s name, according to some people seems to derive from the Greek word “ghe-melon” that means “the land of apples”, whereas according to the historian Lamannis it derives from Saint Geminiano, bishop of Modena, who lived in 452; it seems that, by his intercession, the city of Modena got rid of Attila King of the Huns.
Probably the inhabitants of Gimigliano, being under constant danger of invasion, decided to dedicate some churches to the Saint and , later, the place derived its name from him.
Another hypothesis the derivation of the name regards its clear Latin origin (Geminianum), with reference to the ‘twin ‘ villages. In fact Gimigliano ‘Superiore ‘ and inferiore’ , as they appear today, could be contemporary (see: A. Calogero, “Riflessioni su Gimigliano”).
Its inhabitants have Greek, Latin and Jewish origins. Their ancestors had been besieged by the Saracens along the Jonian coast between 805 and 864 therefore they decided to take to the present territory of Gimigliano giving origin to 30 villages.
Gimigliano rose on a hilly crest on the left bank of the river Corace. This river is suitable for floating timber.
Around its surroundings there are green-cipolin marble caves, pyrite deposits (whose extraction was particularly active during the period going from 1940 to 1949).
With specific regards to the mineral resources Marafiote wrote in 1605: ”… inside various caves you can find “ fire - producing rocks ,absolutely perfect, black, varied, mixed and coloured, and there are very fine stones fit to cut iron in oil”, Pacinelli in 1693 remembered the wealth of “apples, walnuts, pears, chestnuts, oil and silk”.
Historically speking Gimigliano was a territory of Catanzaro up to 1481, then belonged to the Carafa family(1451-1610) and to the Cigala family(until 1799) . Finally it was annexed to the district of Catanzaro and later to the department of the “Sagra”. In 1807 after an uprising against the French Gimigliano was punished by generals Gouget and Camus and put under the jurisdiction of Tiriolo .
The village suffered from many earthquakes in 1626,1638,1783 and from a flooding in 1773.
Around the year 1828, as Lamannis states, Gimigliano was very close to 6000 inhabitants.
There were numerous craft workshops for silk and broom working The accuracy of the results was excellent and the fabrics woven were really beautiful , this until an ‘ingenious venturer’ introduced in Catanzaro a new type of steam-powered machinery,with 24 mangles, capable of producing at low cots a great quantity of organza.
Merchants from Catanzaro and Apulia exported those products to the entire kingdom of Naples.
Historians mention, among the distinguished citizens of Gimigliano, some clergymen and men of letters such as the bishops Adamo (14th century), Giovanni Crisostomo, Fedele de Santis and Annibale Roselli (1540-1610) who was a friar minor.
In the 4th century Tiberio Rosello lived in Gimigliano, he was a philosopher and a magician He is remembered as a fine thinker and an eccentric character.. he was a follower of Agostino Nifo, professor of philosophy in Naples.
In the end of the 18th century the mathematician Giuseppe Scorza (1781-1844) and the diplomatic clergyman were also highly renowned .
A distinguished family is that of the Lamannis , the members of this family are worthy of mention for their intelligence and culture; Gabriele Lamannis stood out among all the others.
He was born 2nd February 1787 and died 5th July 1828 in Firmo. He was a public administrator and a thoughtful scholar.
Priest Domenico also belonged to that noble family and he was a very zealous learned man . thanks to its works the history of Gimigliano from its foundation to the 17th century is known today.
As regards the 19th century in 1946 the majority of the inhabitants voted for the Monarchy even if the republican preferences were numerous.
Since Gimigliano is very near Catanzaro it is influenced in some respects by the capital, above all as regards the demographic aspect: its present population is less than it was in the years before the world war because of emigration to the North of Italy and America.