Are You Nuts About Chestnuts?

[Meanderer]

While food shopping this morning, I overheard a lady ask a worker "I'm looking for chestnuts, that have been cleaned and roasted". This was a new thought to me, as I had never thought of them as a "real" food. How do you use them?

 

[dollie]

up north people use them in their turkey dressing

 

[hearlady]

I hear they are best roasting on an open fire.......

 

[SeaBreeze]

I don't every remember eating any myself, but they had roasted chestnut street vendors in NY, this photo is from 1951....a little before my time.

 

[Pappy]

I use to have a pellet stove in the family room and we would roast chestnuts on the top of the stove. Mmm...Good.

 

[Ruth n Jersey]

I bought some a few years back and roasted them. I didn't care for them. I thought they were a bit to mealy and starchy for my taste.

 

[Camper6]

Every year when they are for sale, usually, in the fall. I buy some and roast them in the oven.

You have to split the skin. Some are easy to peel, some are not. If they are fresh they peel easily. If they are stale the skin sticks to the meat.

They are dry tasting and usually served with wine or beer.

 

[Meanderer]

I don't every remember eating any myself, but they had roasted chestnut street vendors in NY, this photo is from 1951....a little before my time.

I hope he removed the baby from the pram, first! "Brain Food" may be true! Thanks for the picture SB!

 

[hearlady]

I bought some a few years back and roasted them. I didn't care for them. I thought they were a bit to mealy and starchy for my taste.

I agree. I think they might be good mixed into something. I grew up in New England but never tried one until a few years ago. It was slightly sweet but slightly bitter.

 

[Aunt Bea]

I've always liked the notion of roasted chestnuts better than the chestnuts themselves. I never cared for the mealy texture of them but it could be that I didn't have them prepared properly. Sometimes I need to sample things made by various people in various ways before I can decide if I like them or not.

 

[Meanderer]

I seem to recall friends who made Chestnut stuffing, for the holidays.

 

[Aunt Bea]

These sound like a game changer!!!

https://www.tienda.com/products/mar...MI9MP8mbSi1wIVwkoNCh3hJQUjEAkYASABEgKKr_D_BwE

 

[hearlady]

That sounds good.

 

[Meanderer]

History of DUNSTAN CHESTNUT TREES

 

[NancyNGA]

This thread triggered a memory of my cousins and I walking through the woods at our grandparents' place in the country. I remember my grandmother pointing to a huge stump and telling me it had been an old chestnut tree, and about the blight. Even as a kid it made me sad that there was a type of tree I'd probably never see.

Rare American Chestnut Trees Discovered near Warm Springs, GA in 2006

"A stand of American chestnut trees that somehow escaped a blight that killed off nearly all their kind in the early 1900s was discovered in 2006 along a hiking trail not far from President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Little White House at Warm Springs.

The largest of the half-dozen or so trees is about 40 feet tall and 20 to 30 years old, and is believed to be the southernmost American chestnut discovered so far that is capable of flowering and producing nuts. 'There's something about this place that has allowed them to endure the blight,' said Nathan Klaus, a biologist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources who spotted the trees. 'It's either that these trees are able to resist the blight, which is unlikely, or Pine Mountain has something unique that is giving these trees resistance.'

'FDR may have roasted some chestnuts on his fire for Christmas or enjoyed their blooms in the spring,' Klaus said."

Another historical photo:

"This 1920 photograph in Western North Carolina shows a large chestnut that had already died. "

 

[Meanderer]

 

[Cap'nSacto]

I tried them once, when my uncle put a bunch in an iron pan and set them over the fire in his fireplace. They smelled pretty good but I didn't like the taste nor the texture. His dog liked them.

 

[Meanderer]

Cooking & Eating Fresh Chestnuts

 

[NancyNGA]

I had some raw chestnuts a long time ago, but don't know where I could have gotten them. They were good, sweet, kind of rubbery. I think they mold quickly. Seems I recall they get very hard when they dry out. Must not have much fat content.

As far as I know I've never eaten cooked ones in anything.

 

[Marie5656]

In out family, the holidays were not complete without some chestnuts. The Italian way to do them is to cut off part of the shell and boil them. We tried them that way..once. Went back to baking them in the oven. Had to cut a / or an X in them first. Had a friend once exclaim that she did not realize you could cook them any way other than on a fire. Reminded her that not all people had fireplaces. They were a lot cheaper back in the day, though.

 

[nvtribefan]

I love chestnuts, but not the process of roasting and shelling. Best I ever had were from a street vendor in Lisbon.

 

[Meanderer]

 

[RadishRose]

I've had them roasted in the oven as mentioned. They tasted fine, but not worth the trouble. I'm in the north and never knew anyone who made chestnut stuffing, not even the many Italian friends I have.

I saw on a food program a place in Italy where chestnuts are very popular. They grind them into flour and bake cakes with olive oil raisins and rosemary. I would love to taste it.

[h=1]Castagnaccio (Italian Chestnut Cake)[/h]

https://food52.com/recipes/7470-castagnaccio-italian-chestnut-cake

 

[RadishRose]

 

[Aunt Bea]