Chestnuts
© 2001 Madeleine Greey
Chestnuts may have been roasting on open fires since the days of Nat King Cole, but it took me a whole lifetime to taste one.
Somehow, I missed those cozy, fireside culinary moments when growing up. Nor did I ever buy a warm paper bag full of smoky, street vendor chestnuts that were once sold outside Maple Leaf Gardens or the St. Lawrence Farmers’ Market.
So I’ve been making up for lost time in my kitchen. My fingers hurt but my stomach is thrilled. I’ve been scoring pound after pound of fresh chestnuts with an “x” on the flat side, then boiling or roasting them in a 350 oven for about 10 minutes.
Peeling is the tricky -okay, painful- part, for it must be done when the nuts are still hot. If you let a cooked chestnut cool, the outer shell and inner membrane refuse to give way to the quirky little brain-shaped nut inside with its sweet, seductive flavour.
Compared to peeling, shopping for fresh chestnuts is a breeze, especially this time of year. They’re sold in supermarkets and produce stores until the season winds down in January or February. Korean imports can cost as little as $1.79 per pound but fancy, fat Marron chestnuts from Italy can cost as much as $5 per pound.
Surprisingly, recipes abound for chestnuts. Whether it’s American chestnut stuffing, French crepes filled with chestnut puree or Cantonese braised duck with chestnuts, this nut is an essential pantry item in both Mediterranean and Asian kitchens.
Debbie Diament is a recipe developer and teaches hands-on cooking through her company My Place for Dinner (http://www.myplacefordinner.com). She bought some packaged French chestnuts at Sainsbury’s food store in London, England a few years ago and has been looking for those same, vacuum-packed peeled chestnuts in Toronto, ever since.
“It’s a great product that should be more accessible in Toronto. I hoard packaged chestnuts whenever I find them,” Diament admits. “I eat them straight out of the package.” Diament prefers packaged over fresh because she “doesn’t have the patience or time” to shell half a pound of chestnuts for her favourite chestnut recipe- perhaps the finest soup I have ever tasted (see below).
Curious whether packaged chestnuts compromised the flavour of her soup, I tested her soup recipe with both fresh and canned chestnuts. According to my taste buds, fresh won, but only by a tiny smidgen. (Canned, peeled chestnuts from France are sold at Pasquale Bros., Highland Farms and Dinah’s Cupboard.)
Meanwhile, chef Gabriele Paganelli has chestnut risotto on the menu at Romagna Mia Osteria Pizzeria on Front Street East. While he could use fresh chestnuts this time of year, he opts for dried, which he purchases in Chinatown. Dried chestnuts make the dish more authentic, he explains, for his risotto is essentially peasant fare from Emelia Romagna where he grew up.
“Fresh chestnuts are my favourite winter food,” he says, remembering the days when his family used to “go into the bushes” every October and search for chestnuts, after which they’d have the “last picnic of the season.”
While it sounds romantic, don’t try this at home. Ontario-grown horse chestnuts are inedible.
Chestnut and chickpea soup with rosemary
This rich and decadent winter soup recipe is from Debbie Diament. Truffle oil can be found at specialty food stores. Fresh (not dried) rosemary really makes the soup.
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
1 cup finely chopped cooking onion
2 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 + 1/2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 19 oz/540 ml can of chickpeas
1 + 1/2 cups fresh or canned, peeled chestnuts
2 bay leaves
Truffle oil
Heat a large pot at medium-low. Add olive oil, coat pan, add garlic, carrots, celery, onion, rosemary, salt and pepper to taste, stirring occasionally and cooking until very tender for 15 minutes, uncovered.
Pour in stock, raise heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Add chickpeas, chestnuts and bay leaves, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer gently for 20 minutes.
Remove 2 cups of soup and reserve. Puree the remaining soup until smooth with an immersion blender, food processor or blender. Pour reserved soup back into the puree. Drizzle each serving with truffle oil, if desired. Serves 4.
Madeleine Greey is a food writer and cookbook author.
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