Native American chestnut trees used to be very common on the East Coast of the United States. It has vanished for both economical and natural reasons. It was one of the best for timber and it was attacked by a lethal fungus. By 1950, most of the chestnut trees had disappeared.

Despite the efforts of some associations to bring this tree back, it is rather difficult to find nice chestnuts in North America. The Italian and the French love chestnuts so you might be able to find chestnuts in specialized stores.

How to Buy Chestnuts?

Good fresh chestnuts should have a smooth and glossy shell, free of blemishes and worm holes. They must be heavy for their size. Shake the shell. If you feel some movement, it means that the nut is dry and therefore not so fresh anymore.

You can find canned chestnuts. Do they taste like fresh? NO. So it’s up to you to choose.

Hard to find in North America, you can buy chestnut cream (a sweet spread that can be used as a jam) and candied chestnuts (chestnuts cooked in a syrup).

How to Cook Fresh Chestnuts?

As if we should deserve the chestnuts before eating them, it takes some time to first remove the shell and then the inner skin. You must use a very sharp knife to work on the shell, but be very careful as the knife can easily slide on the shell and you may badly hurt yourself.

Roasted chestnuts in the oven

Preheat your oven to 425oF or 220oF. Cut through the pointed top of the shell to allow steam to escape. Place the chestnuts in a baking pan and into the center of the oven. After about 15 minutes the cut part of the chestnut shell will be curled back. Remove from oven, cool enough to handle. Peel the shell off the chestnut. Eat as is.

Boiled chestnuts:

Boil the chestnuts for 20 minutes or until cooked. Depending on your taste and recipe, you may want to cook them longer. When cooked, remove the inner skin while still hot/warm. If you let them cool down, it will be more difficult to remove the skin. The chestnuts are then ready to eat or use in a recipe.

Chestnut recipes

In Brittany (France), people of Redon (who claims the be the capital city of Chestnuts), would gather friends or family members to eat chestnuts. Each person would peel their own chestnuts (enough to fill a soup plate) and would pour warm milk on the top. Simply delicious!