North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Pat Scott <quandong@iinet.net.au>]

Also, Tom, chestnuts are one of those kinds of produce that don't  
keep well.  If possible, you should only buy them fresh from the  
place that grew them, and during their fruiting season.  Most shops  
continue selling stored chestnuts for months, that progressively grow  
quite nasty.

A good, fresh chestnut feels heavy and dense, while an older chestnut  
has shriveled inside; you might try pressing the shells - if there is  
a lot of give in them (indicating a shrunken seed), avoid them.

Good, fresh chestnuts are delightful.  Some extra sweet ones can be  
eaten raw, but I always like them cooked, either roasted or steamed.

Pat

On 29/10/2006, at 9:23 AM, Stephen Sadler wrote:

> Just a quick answer - chestnuts, unlike other nuts, contain almost  
> no fat.
> Also, their dry weight is 50% sugars. Think of them as a sweet  
> vegetable,
> like sweet potatoes.  They don't get crisp and nutty - more soft  
> and sweet.
> Sometimes when people don't like the roasted ones, it's just that  
> they're
> expecting something else.
> They're good sautéed and added to veg dishes and stuffing.  They're  
> used in
> some pastries, both as a puree and, dried and ground, as a pastry  
> flour.  If
> you're watching fat intake, or just like exploring/trying different  
> foods,
> you can puree and sweeten cooked chestnuts and use that in place of  
> peanut
> butter (not in cookies - no oil means they won't cook right).
> Regardless of origin, chestnuts are high in carbohydrates with a small
> amount of protein and trace amounts of fat.  They're fairly rich in
> potassium and manganese.  European chestnuts have more potassium  
> and less
> manganese than Chinese chestnuts.  American grown will usually be  
> Chinese
> chestnuts, because there are so few American chestnuts trees that  
> survived
> the blight.  There are continuous efforts to reestablish the native
> chestnuts.  I don't really notice flavor or quality differences;  
> the Italian
> chestnuts have a fine reputation, but the American ones can be had  
> fresh.
>
> ~ Stephen
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
> [mailto:nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Thomas Olenio
> Sent: Saturday, October 28, 2006 12:38 PM
> To: North American Fruit Explorers
> Subject: [NAFEX] Chestnuts
>
>
> Hello,
>
> A local store has just received some Italian chesnuts, used for  
> roasted
> chestnuts.  I have two questions;
>
>         1) what is the dietary content of chestnuts?
>
>         2) is there variation between north American
>            and Italian chestnuts?
>
> I tried roasted chestnuts once, but I do not know if I tasted badly
> prepared chestnuts, or people either lover or hate chestnuts.
>
> Willing to give them another try.
>
> Thanks,
> Tom