I have been curious about chestnuts for the longest time, and yes, I blame the opening line of ‘The Christmas Song‘
So I bought some Italian chestnuts at Byward Fruit last week, kept them in my fridge and this evening I set out to eat some of them. I found directions on How to Roast Chestnuts and went ahead.
First, you wash the chestnuts and score the flat sides. I used an exacto knife to make this easy, it’s important to avoid nutmeat explosions, this will let the steam escape.
Next, following the instruction on the website: place in oven at 375 degree for 20 minutes, turning them at 10 minutes), you removed them from the oven and place in a towel in a bowl for 5 to 10 minutes before shelling them.
Then you shell them, this takes a bit of effort but not much, I did it with my fingers. It is easier once they have cooled down a bit.
Verdict: dry. As forewarned, they do look like tiny brains. And they do taste like baked potatoes with a slight sweet/nutty taste. Not what I imagined (I was thinking more nutty like walnuts, not potatoe-y like spuds). The one thing I can’t be entirely sure of is if I bought the best of the bunch, they were outside and it was -20 and after dark. I just threw a few in a bag and hoped. They certainly didn’t impress me.
Not sure why they spell ‘Christmas’ to some, they had a guest spot in my Christmas this year, but I don’t foresee them being invited again.
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