Cucina 101

Chestnuts and Winter

by Chef Walter Potenza

If you are ever in Rome around this time of the year, you can smell roasted chestnuts in every corner of the eternal city served charred-crispy-hot and wrapped in newspaper cones. The antecedent of street food as we know it, this fruit has been a major element of the Catholic Holidays for centuries. Chestnuts appear around November therefore at the beginning of the Holy Season and ends at the beginning of February. Usually, after that period, chestnuts tend to be out of season and qualitatively inferior. But in addition of consuming them charcoal roasted over an open fire, chestnuts find immense usage in culinary in a variety of recipes and snacks. But let me share some background on this often un-utilized delicacy.

Chestnuts are the edible seeds of the large and majestic chestnut tree, of which there are over one hundred species. The chestnut tree (Castanea) is native to Asia Minor and the Mediterranean region, where both wild and cultivated chestnuts, have been a staple food for the masses since prehistoric times. Traditionally, chestnuts are an excellent source of nutrition during the winter months. Chestnut trees can grow over 100 feet tall and the trunk can be over 3 feet in diameter, although most chestnut species are somewhat smaller. The chestnut tree is from the same botanical family as oak, and like oak its timber is highly regarded as a tough yet subtly grained wood, used for making furniture, parquet floors and the like. Chestnuts trees, which have been known to live up to 500 years, do not produce chestnuts until they are 25 to 60 years old. Chestnuts grow inside prickly green burrs or husks, and are covered by a dark brown, inedible, almost leather-like shell. The shell is best removed by boiling or roasting.

Chestnuts in History:

It's believed that Castanea satvia, also known as sweet chestnut, was first cultivated in northern regions of the Mediterranean basin, Turkey and the Caucasus. Wild trees, which thrive in moderate climates, reached southern Europe and quickly spread. Archaeological evidence, in the form of charred chestnut, suggests that chestnuts were eaten in southern Europe during ancient times. Xenophon of Athens (430-354 BC) wrote that after the Athenian army reached and attacked the capital city of the Mossynoecian people, one of the few foods they could find to plunder were chestnuts which they used to a make bread for the army. Chestnut bread, not dissimilar to that made in the first millennium, is still made today particularly in central Italy, Sicily, Corsica and the Balkans.

Pliny the Great mentioned chestnut flour to make a type of bread, eaten by women toward the end of fasting. Indeed, the Romans often added chestnut flour to wheat flour as a way of stretching bread flour. Pliny also noted that the best tasting chestnuts, too be roasted, were from Roccamonfina near Caserta in the Campania region in Southern Italy. And to this day that particular area of the country still harvests some of the finest in the world.

The principle regions of chestnut cultivation, aside from specific areas in southern Italy, are Corsica, the French Pyrenees, Rhône Alps, Provençal Alps, Cote d' Azur and Languedoc-Roussillon. In France and Italy chestnuts are either called marron (marroni) or châtaigne (castagne). The name marron refers to special chestnut with a single large nut as opposed to ordinary, châtaigne (chestnuts), when the husk contains three separate nuts.

In Corsica, through history, chestnuts grew abundantly and could be used as a type of currency, making them crucial to the Corsican economy. Locals made chestnut polenta, which was shaped like a loaf of bread or cake. Indeed, polenta became the people's bread. White chestnuts were combined with goats milk, and pasta, to make a hearty, thick soup known as suppa a cuchjara ritta, literally, 'soup that a spoon stands in'. Many of these traditional recipes were introduced during the times when Corsica was an Italian territory. But chestnuts are not just for Europeans.

Castanea dentata or the American chestnut is a species native to North America that was popular until the early 20th century when a devastating fungal disease almost destroyed the entire species. Nowadays the varieties cultivated in the USA are Castanea mollissima, also known as the Chinese chestnut, and Crenata or the Japanese chestnut. The world's top producing countries of chestnuts are Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, China, South Korea and Japan. Europe's top consumers of chestnuts are Italy, Germany and Britain.

Culinary Uses: Chestnuts are available from October and as a culinary ingredient they are flavorful and versatile. They are boiled, roasted, grilled (broiled in the USA), braised or steamed. Marrons glacés are specially selected sweet chestnuts that are cooked then poached in vanilla-flavored syrup for 48 hours to preserve them. Marrons glacés, used mostly for special occasions, have a glazed appearance, hence their name. Marrons glacés were first created during the reign of Louis XIV and became popular with pastry chefs in the creation of pastry delights. Pureed marrons glaces add flavor to Bavarian cream, ices, puddings, pastries and sweets. Mont Blanc is a classical French dessert prepared with a meringue or sable pastry base topped with chestnut puree and Chantilly cream.

Chestnuts are added to stews and soups, typical of Southwestern France and various towns in Abruzzo during Christmas Holidays. They are chopped and added to stuffing and served with poultry at Christmas and the New Year. Chestnuts are the perfect accompaniment to Brussels sprouts. In Italy, Corsica and Sardinia they are eaten like vegetables and used in the preparation of special dishes. Chestnut flour is used to make polenta, waffles and bread.

Nutrition: It's little wonder that chestnuts helped fuel the campaigns of ancient armies from Greece to Rome. After all they are a calorific rich and nutritious food. Chestnuts are 40% carbohydrate, that's about twice as much as potatoes. According to Larousse, 100g of chestnuts has 199-307 calories, depending on the variety. Chestnuts contain monounsaturated fats, the so called healthy fats, also found in olive oil. Although they also have high water content, about 52%, that's more than any other nut. Chestnuts are rich in potassium and vitamins C, B6 and fiber. They are also a source of folic acid, copper, magnesium, thiamine, iron and phosphorus.

Cooking chestnuts with dry heat increases their nutritional content and, although they can be eaten raw, cooking also makes them more digestible. Chestnuts may cause flatulence and bloating, although chewing slowing helps to better digest them. In herbal medicine chestnuts prevent anemia and are used as an antiseptic. Of all tree nuts chestnuts are the best source of antioxidants, carried in the form of natural phenolic compounds, one of which is Ellagic acid.