Chestnut raid

[janestarz]

After helping Steelweaver and Twilightbanana out with their Grand Move, I cycled home slowly. We'd talked about chestnuts, mostly horse chestnuts, as possible decoration materials for a stand, and when I turned the corner of the Terbregseweg, near Ommoord, lo' and behold -- a chestnut tree. Probably of the Aesculus hippocastanum line -- horse chestnuts, and not suitable for consumption. But I only found two chestnuts on the ground, and I got back on the bike and cycled on.

Until at the Prins Alexanderlaan I found a second chestnut tree... but this was a sweet chestnut tree, Castanea sativa, the edible kind.
I stepped off my bicycle and scouted the grass beneath the tree. I picked handfuls of the fallen chestnuts from the grass, and soon I had two hands full. The more I picked up, the more I found, some still inside their protective (sharp-needled!) shells. I took my handbag from the bike bag, and started to fill that up because I was tired of walking back and forth with my hands full after a while. And then I picked up even more chestnuts!

From Wikipedia:
Once cooked they become delicious, developing, when roasted, a sweet flavour and floury texture not unlike sweet potato. The cooked nuts can be used by confectioners, puddings, desserts and cakes or eaten roasted. They are used for flour, bread making, a cereal substitute, coffee substitute, a thickener in soups and other cookery uses, as well as for fattening stock. A sugar can be extracted from it.

And that's just the chestnuts, for the leaves have different uses of their own (which I shall not go into here).

So I raided a few chestnuts...


...and I looked for a recipe online. Just 10 minutes at 220°C will transform the hard chestnuts into a delicacy. Just make sure to cut into the outer shell at the pointy end.



I'd never eaten chestnuts before, but I really like the taste. It reminds me a bit of chick peas, or potato: a very meaty kind of fiber, rich taste, and very filling. You can easily make mashed chestnut by cooking the (roasted and peeled) chestnuts in a broth.

So then I called my aunt Chris, who loves chestnuts too and is always very interested in these kinds of experiments. We talked for half an hour about elderberry recipes and chestnuts and bees (they keep bees...my aunt and uncle are so cool).
I'll have plenty of chestnuts left for the rest of winter, because they keep rather well. I'll be sure to bring some to Omen as well, just in case we can build a fire. We can roast chestnuts and burn our fingers when we peel them.

Very interesting and fun experiment! I'm really glad I brought them home!

Comments

[woran.livejournal.com]

All the chestnuts here are sadly horse chestnuts. Its a shame really, as the ratties love them too.
I guess I have to go scout the woods sometimes as now I have the munchies for chestnuts :P

[janestarz.livejournal.com]

Well, we still needed to meet up some day, and I guess we won't go through them very fast!

[woran.livejournal.com]

<3

[steelweaver.livejournal.com]

Did you do the float test before eating them? I mean, you may like the extra protein, but then again, maybe you won't...

[janestarz.livejournal.com]

What is this "float test"?

[steelweaver.livejournal.com]

Chestnuts get worms, so you dunk them in water and the ones that float, have worms and/or fungi eating holes in them. You could still use them, but you'll probably want to peel and cut them up to see if they're salvageable.

[janestarz.livejournal.com]

They're still very fresh from the tree (the tree was still full!) and we only ate six last night. I'll 'bathe' the rest tomorrow. Maybe we were lucky, maybe not.

[steelweaver.livejournal.com]

I tend to assume people know this, but you didn't mention it so I thought I'd ask. I grew up not too far away from forests full of sweet chestnut trees.

[anemoona.livejournal.com]

Maurice eet die dingen zelfs rauw, maar ik vind ze dan veel te bitter.
Gaat die bittere bijsmaak eraf als je ze in de oven stopt?

[nokey.livejournal.com]

Yep. Ze smaken erg aardappel-achtig nadat ze uit de oven komen.

[(Anonymous)]

Zo'n schaaltje vol kastanjes is ook erg leuk als decoratie in huis. Ik krijg er gelijk zo'n knus herfstig gevoel van! Iets met de hamsteraar in mij die wakker wordt.

Lenny