21 Chestnut Recipes That Demand a Spot on Your Holiday Table (2024)

FAQs

Why don't we eat chestnuts anymore? ›

The American Chestnut almost went extinct

The blight creates a ring of lesions around the tree's trunk, preventing nutrients from reaching the branches. While the Asian trees were resistant to it, the American variety was highly vulnerable. By 1950, approximately four billion American Chestnut trees had died.

The disease was ultimately traced back to a variety of Asian chestnut that had been imported to Long Island, but by then it was too late. The blight spread, and within 40 years, nearly every American chestnut was dead. Other varieties of chestnut are still eaten all over the world, just as they have been for centuries.

Fresh Chestnuts are best if consumed within three weeks of purchase. Cooked Chestnuts can be kept in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Cooked and Peeled Chestnuts store perfectly in the freezer for year-round goodness.

Raw chestnuts are safe to eat for most people. However, they do contain tannic acid, which means they could cause stomach irritation, nausea, or liver damage if you have liver disease or experience a lot of kidney problems.

Horse chestnuts contain a toxin called saponin aesculin that makes all parts of these trees poisonous. This toxin isn't absorbed very well, so it tends to produce mild to moderate symptoms when people eat horse chestnuts. The most common symptom is stomach irritation.

Asia is the largest producer and consumer of chestnuts in the world. The use of chestnuts as food over 9,000 years ago in Japan is documented in carbonized nuts found in ancient villages. Recent programs have mandated the large-scale establishment of chestnut orchards in many different regions of China.

A Deadly Disease

In 1904 however, the non-native chestnut blight fungus (Chryphonectria parasitica) was introduced and quickly spread through forests of the eastern U.S. By 1950, almost all American chestnuts in their native range were dead.

The U.S. imports $20 million of chestnuts yearly because there are fewer than 2,500 acres of chestnut orchards in the U.S. It would take 10,000 acres of producing chestnut orchards to supply what we import.

When cooked, the shells will burst open, and the chestnut will be golden brown. Roast until the shells begin to peel back where you cut into them. “Keep a careful watch to ensure they are not overcooked or undercooked,” Patton says. “Either will result in hard chestnuts and the inner skin will be difficult to remove.”

Oven-roasting chestnuts is the best way to bring out the fullest flavour (if you want to eat them straight away or chop them into your stuffing mix). Boiling them will give a smooth texture for cooking in soups or purées.

How many chestnuts does it take to make a pound? ›

Approximately 35-40 per lb.

Chestnuts don't ripen at the same time and chestnut harvest time can span as much as five weeks, although the nuts generally ripen in a 10 to 30 day span of time in late August and September. Allow the nuts to fall from the tree naturally.

Chestnuts are commonly associated with the holiday season, but are a delicious treat to enjoy all year round. It's possible to eat them raw, though they are more common roasted. Regardless of how you prepare them, chestnuts are sure to be a welcome addition to your family's table.

By 1910, the grim reality was readily apparent to all observers: American chestnut trees were “doomed.” The blight killed some four billion American chestnut trees by 1950—but even long before then, people were having a hard time finding any that were still standing.

The blight, originating from Asia, rapidly spread and destroyed the American chestnut population. The fungus causes cankers on the trees that grow, girdle and kill branches and trunks. Within a few decades, the blight effectively wiped out an estimated 4 billion American chestnut trees.

The tree's demise started with something called ink disease in the early 1800s, which steadily killed chestnut in the southern portion of its range. The final blow happened at the turn of the 20th century when a disease called chestnut blight swept through Eastern forests.

Sweet chestnuts are edible, but horse chestnuts are poisonous. If eaten, they can cause digestive problems such as abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and throat irritation. More than one in 10 cases of poisonous plants being mistaken for edible plants involve horse and sweet chestnuts.