My parents have a few Chinese chestnut trees in their yard and the spikey round balls, chestnut burrs, are everywhere. I put on a hard hat (didn't want them falling on my bare head - those things are sharp!) and gathered them up and brought a few home.
Did you know the American chestnut tree was nearly wiped out by a blight fungus in the 1800's? At one time one in four hardwood trees in the US was an American Chestnut but the introduction of the Japanese Chestnut tree brought the blight. There is a new generation of American Chestnut tree that the American Chestnut Foundation is hoping will restore them to our environment.
Back home, I was all about eating the chestnuts. First I boiled them for about half and hour but they seemed to miss that roasted flavor so I cut an X in each one and roasted them on the grill. They seem a little dry but my friend Diedra suggested I drizzle honey over them!
I am fascinated by chestnut trees. People always talk about Native Americans eating corn, squash, beans and deer....but I wonder how much the chestnut contributed to their diet.
ReplyDeleteYou're just going to have to make some chestnut flour and bake some amazing Italian style chestnut desserts. :-)
The wikipedia page for just "chestnut" says... "American Indians were eating the American chestnut species, mainly Castanea dentata and some others, long before European immigrants introduced their stock to America, and before the arrival of chestnut blight."
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