They are a symbol of fall as they roast upon a fire or inside the oven. Or, rather, others will roast them. My job is to simply collect these chestnuts while they are fresh upon the ground.
Chestnuts are native to the Northern Hemisphere will hundreds of native varieties located to the various bioregiones of the north. I was surprised to read about the long history of chestnut as a subsistence food. Not just in Europe but also all over the vast continent of Asia. I read about varities local to Japan, the Phillipines, and Indonesians islands too.
A variety of native and cultivated trees grow in forests and plantation. They provide snacks during fall and winter, traditional holiday meals, and susstenance before cereals were widely avaiulalble. All of these interenet factoids are really making me rethink the value of this tree!
Chestnuts are really easy to harvest. They grow inside a spiky shell that opens up and falls to the groudn when ripe. Those spikes are tiny and sharp but, can be completely avoided with careful picking. It helps to step on the shell with boots so that the three (or more) chestnuts pop out on their own.
Each year I harvest baskets of chestnuts to give away. Each year I try my hand at actually making something with them to no avail. The holiday tune says to simply roast chestnuts on an open fire but, that has never worked out for me. In fact, no method of preparing chestnuts has worked for me. My friend Gaby, however makes delicious chestnut nutella with the chetnuts I give her. This year she is even going to join in the harvesting, which may lead to a Chestnut Harvest part two.
And the chestnuts must be cooked, at least this variety anyway. Raw chestnuts arent digestible to humans. They must be baked, roasted, or boiled first. The heat from the oven cracks open a thin, shiny shell exposing a soft nut inside. Really, it is less like a nut and more like a small baked potato. Chestnuts have been used by lots of cultures as a substitute for both bread and potato.
Chestnut flower preceeded wheat flour in a lot of the world. And in a time when giving up our dependance on industrial flour seems like a good idea I am eager to find a way to make the most of this super abundant chestnut tree.
