Our village in France grows A LOT of Chestnuts; grafted plantations are everywhere. I did own a small plantation of ancient grafted trees myself, which produced a ton, or more, annually.
Usually at this time of year we filled our pockets with a dozen or so nuts to enjoy by the fire. They were plump, tender and delicious. Not being there to enjoy a few is 'heartbreaking'.
So, not wishing to deprive myself I bought a small bag of nuts from Sainsbury's. They were quite small, quite hard, and unfortunately come from SPAIN. There was no indication as to the variety. They cost me £3 for 400gms
I always boil my Chestnuts. I pierce them with a small cross on the pointed end, and boil for about 15-20 minutes. Usually by this time the exterior peel is loose, and the nut slightly translucent and easy to remove. However, these Spanish nuts are quite different. The exterior peel is very tough to pierce, and after the usual cooking time they remained quite hard, and were a devil to peel.
Even so, I did enjoy my few last night. We never eat that many; most years no more than a dozen. But they are a seasonal pointer, and I do enjoy them. Autumn wouldn't be Autumn without a few Chestnuts.
N.B. When peeled I add just a tiny pinch of salt; they need nothing more.
We always have a few chestnuts during winter and heat them on top of the wood stove. They're not my favourite but K enjoys them. In winter they are sold on Athens streets, roasted on a brazier.
ReplyDeleteWe don't have any trees around us. You're lucky in France. The fresher and plumper they are the better they are, naturally
Ps they're called 'castana' here. Not a word of Greek origin I think
DeleteThey are best directly from the tree; and free! People here usually roast them, but I don't like the burned bits.
DeleteQuel bonheur, mais quel dommage de juste les bouillir. Il y a mille recettes pour les préparer. Grillé, salé, sucré, en légume, soupe , purée, un gratin de choux de Bruxelles et de marrons. Délicieux. A la poele :carottes et marrons avec oignons et herbes. , je pourrai continuer à l'infini. En tout cas bon snack quand-même.
ReplyDeleteHuguette
I like mine as simple as possible, without any burned bits. We also buy them 'ready prepared' en bocal for Christmas, where they are used to accompany the Turkey. I do like them, but we never eat very many.
DeleteChacun à sa manière. J'aime les expériences culinaires !
DeleteHuguette
There are good ones and not so good ones - I love chestnut flour for making biscotti.
ReplyDeleteAs you can imagine, in my part of France they make every type of Chestnut product you can imagine. Flour is of course a favourite. It's all good.
DeleteWe used to cook ours over the open fire using a brass chestnut roaster. I didn't mind the odd burnt bits.
ReplyDeleteI have a standard old-fashioned steel one in France, it's basically a frying pan with holes. It works well.
DeleteWe have had large amounts fall from trees in our local wood, some we actually brought home as they were large enough to cook. We just had about six each. I make a split in the skin which was quite tender and roasted them in the oven for about 20 minutes, delicious but we had sufficient and wanted no more. It is years since I have gathered chestnuts, we always did at this time of year when we lived with my grandparents in Surrey. This year they were really plump and worth gathering must have been the hot summer, the squirrels are having a field day. Regards Sue H
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a child in Surrey, we used to go off to the woods and collect wild Chestnuts. They were never very big, but we loved them. The grafted trees around us in France produce big fat nuts. Lovely.
DeleteThe Brexit Leave vote has done many unwelcome things and now we can add this one to the list - depriving Lord Magnon of his French chestnuts. Fat Boris didn't write that one on the side of the red bus did he?
ReplyDeleteThere was also a very good mushroom harvest (Cepes) this year too. It's not only the Chestnuts he deprived me of!
DeleteTime to open some borders and let the chestnuts in.
ReplyDeleteEspecially the ones from my village!
DeleteA warm, brown shell to crack and peel,
ReplyDeleteA smoky, sweet, and autumn meal.
Soft roasted gold against the chill,
A simple treat that warms us still.
Perfectly put! We had some more this lunchtime; they seemed a bit better than the last lot.
DeleteWe have sweet chestnut trees in the verge on the way to the local Asda. There are plenty to forage, fairly small, but tasty. I pierce and simmer a handful in some water in a Pyrex jug in the microwave, until they are easy to peel.
ReplyDeleteThat's basically how I prepare them, but not in the microwave. I prefer big plump nuts, but the small one's are just as tasty.
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