Food

Food Information

Nuts

CHESTNUTS

There used to be three kinds of chestnuts: European, Oriental, and American. The American chestnuts were the most flavorful, but unless you are a very senior citizen, you have yet to, and probably never will, sample one. Millions of America's chestnut trees were wiped out in the early 1900s by an incurable disease called the chestnut blight. The European, and especially the Oriental, strains are resistant to the blight that totaled the American trees.

Today, most of our chestnuts are imported each fall from Italy, although some are also brought in from Portugal and the Far East. They are graded by size-the larger the nut, the higher the price. They used to be graded AAA, AA, and A. Now we use a metric measure: 44-46, 48-50, and 60-65. The 44-46, which corresponds to the old AAA, means that there are 44-46 nuts to a kilo (2.2 pounds).

The chestnut tree is a large shapely tree that is also prized for its timber. It blossoms and then produces a round green prickly burr that contains two or three closely fitting chestnuts.

These nuts may be eaten raw, but they are usually roasted. Sometimes they are boiled in a sugar syrup. Until recently, before prices skyrocketed, it was common to see vendors selling hot roasted chestnuts in the streets of our larger cities. The fine warmth and flavor of chestnuts roasting in charcoal braziers are second only to the fragrance.

In France a common dessert is marrons glace´, shelled chestnut meats that have been boiled in sugar syrup with vanilla or liqueur flavorings. In the United States you can buy these bottled chestnuts in the more posh retail food stores.

Deamer 12/7/96