Chestnut - The Protagonist Of Autumn

2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29

After the pumpkin and lyutenitsa the chestnut is another of the culinary symbols of autumn. At the end of summer and before winter comes, it is one of the products that are most often present on the stalls in the market or in our homes. And it is not true that we can only eat it baked - there are dozens, even hundreds of recipes in which he is the main character, prepared in various ways.

And this is far from recent - man has been eating chestnuts for as long as he can remember. But beware, a distinction must be made between edible chestnuts, also called sweet chestnuts, and those that grow on trees in cities and that we are accustomed to collect among the fallen leaves. The latter are also useful, but not edible. They have a bitter taste and are mostly used in medicine and pharmacy.

The nutritional qualities of chestnuts have been known since ancient times. It is proved by a petrified chestnut 8 million years old! It was opened in Saint-Basil, France, and is now part of a museum exhibit at the Museum of Paleontology. The sweet one chestnut was cultivated by man in the Middle Ages, in the 4th century it was a bargaining chip like wheat and salt, and in the 17th century it slowly began to take over territories to reach its apogee in the 19th century with a production of 40,000 tons.

The tree of chestnut it has also found its application - it was used in the construction of houses, as well as for the barrels in which the wine was aged.

In entire regions of Europe, chestnuts have been a staple food for a long time because of their nutritional value. In Spain, Portugal, Italy and France, they were the food of the poor and a major tool in the fight against hunger.

Chestnuts have been dried to last longer throughout the year. Dry, they became easy to flour, which is not inferior in nutritional properties to wheat. Chestnut flour has been a staple of food for a long time - until it was replaced by potatoes.

Chestnuts are an extremely healthy food - they are low in calories and fat and high in vitamins and minerals. They also contain potassium, phosphate and protein. And in addition to all their qualities, they have another great advantage - they are delicious and can be used almost anywhere in the kitchen.

There are many recipes in cookbooks in which they are the main character. Chestnuts for example, they can be mashed and flavored with onions, cream and celery for a delicious soup. The combination with pumpkin is a real definition of autumn in a bowl. Chestnuts can become an unusual and very tasty puree for roast meat. In many traditional cuisines they are also popular as a filling for roast chickens, ducks and turkeys or an ingredient for a delicious sauce to them. Chestnuts create a unique character of hundreds of sweet temptations - chestnut cake, chestnut cream, chestnut cake, chestnut rolls and even chestnut jam.

Try it, you won't regret it!