Chestnuts roasting on an open fire

Nevvah!

Yes, in London from a street vendor. Very good.

I eat them all the time. Roasted chestnuts are sold on the street in many civilized cities. Sorry for you, OP.

They’re rather bland unless they’re candied or spiced up

Growing up my mother would roast them in the oven. They were ok.

Now marrons glaces from Fauchon which used to be on Park Avenue near where I worked was one of the most delicious things ever. I guess you could order them from Paris but I assume it would cost a fortune if you are in the states. If you are in Paris stop by the place. They are worth their cost. Whatever that cost now is.

I often ate roasted chestnuts in Japan. They are called "kuri." 栗

I thought chest nuts were tits

I make this chestnut soup. It's heaven. (Skip the fried parsley. Life is short.)

Meh, take me to Arthur Treachers

I know people who go crazy for them but it’s more of a nostalgia item, like cotton candy at a fair. I always thought they tasted kind of bland.

You all sound fat.

I had warm, roasted chestnuts in Japan, as well. Bought on the street. It's a winter-time thing.

Delicious.

Broadway doesn't go for booze & dope. And I only go for one variety of nuts. Speaking of which: if you'll excuse me, I have a MAN waiting for me!

In Italy chestnut vendors appear this time of year on the street. The chestnuts are naturally sweet, just a lovely flavour.

Chestnut crepes with ricotta cheese. Also sold by street vendors.

Bland? True, they don't taste like McRibs...

They are sold on the streets of NYC during winter. They are roasted and delicious.

Jeff's nuts roasting on an open fire...

R3 Ah yes, the USA has become rather uncivilized. It's still my home, though.

Better one than R17.....Fanatics would gather and sit on a cold steel marble foyer before a roaring fire to watch Boris Spassky and Bobby Fischer because they wanted to watch chest nuts roasting on an open foyer

Don’t treat me well, I’ll roast your nuts.

I’ve eaten a nut off a chest, does that count?

R2 I've always wondered who ate those. I suspected they were something they got the homeless to do, like selling The Big Issue.

R21 We WILL NOT be having a gay Yuletide! I said so.

I remember them selling them around Rockefeller Center during the winter many years ago. I wondered if they still did. I guess so.

We roasted them in the oven, too. They were part of our Italian Christmas Eve celebration.

I don't think I've ever seen them in our grocery stores, but then y'all probably don't sacks of live crawfish or mirlitons in your groceries.

The roasted chestnuts that started the tradition were from American chestnut trees which used to be plentiful. Supposedly they tasted much better and the Japanese chestnuts they sell today.

My local ShopRite sells these.

I bought them once. They were not very good.

Then reading the package carefully, I discovered they're imported from China.

Every Christmas due to my dad's British heritage, We still have them every holiday and I always think of him.

I love roasted chestnuts. I’ve had dressing with chestnuts and wild rice. Delicious.

There used to be chestnut vendors on the streets of Chicago during the winters until I left in '83. It's a lovely tradition.

My mother puts them in her turkey stuffing, and it's delicious.

They look disgusting.

I wouldn't know what they look like.

I remember my parents having a dish with a nutcracker and some kind of nuts. Have no idea what they were, though.

Try the chestnut stuffing at Citarella

I’ve had water chestnuts. Are they the same?

If it aint Amurcan it's gross. Must be some faggoty Frog food.

[quote] I remember my parents having a dish with a nutcracker and some kind of nuts. Have no idea what they were, though.

We had a wooden nut bowl with a metal nutcracker, R33. Chestnuts don’t need the nutcracker because you have to peel the shell to remove it, not crack it.

My parents would get chestnuts when I was growing up, but I hated them; though I love them now. Yes, their flavor is subtle, but I think quite wonderful. I’ve used them in a roasted butternut squash soup, and the chestnuts, especially the chopped ones that you add at the end before serving, add a nice flavor to the dish.

omfg this is what my parents had!

Of course. They are a big thing in the streets of my city at this time of year.

That’s the one, R38!!! It had a nutcracker and the nut picks.

My mother made Chestnut Dressing every Thanksgiving, very delicious. They really don't taste like anything else. Pain in the ass to peel and get all the skin off, the skin is very bitter.

Chestnut Joke

Guy goes to the pet store and asks the manager if he has anything special In the way of birds. The manager tells him that in fact he does, it's a Bird named "Chet" who sings.

The manager tells him that Chet can sing, and that he'll show him. The manager then takes a cigarette lighter out of his pocket and lights it a few inches underneath Chet's right foot. Chet begins to sing "Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle All the Way" the manager then lights his lighter under Chet's left foot, and Chet begins to sing "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas,

He brings the bird home and presents it to his wife as a Christmas gift. She is very happy and says the bird is beautiful. The husband tells her That the bird can sing, and he takes his lighter and lights it beneath Chet's right foot, and Chet begins to sing, "Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle All the Way".

The wife is thrilled and asks if he can do anything else. The husband then lights the lighter under Chet's left foot and Chet begins to sing, "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know..."

The wife is overwhelmed and asks, "What would happen if you put the lighter under both of his feet at the same time?" The husband says that he doesn't know, but they could try it. So the husband puts the lighter under both of the birds feet and the bird begins to sing,

"Chet's nuts roasting on an open fire...."

[quote] I’ve had water chestnuts. Are they the same?

No, very different. Chestnuts, IIRC, have a sweet potato flavor. Texture is totally different from water chestnuts.

My kooky aunt roasted some in our oven one Christmas in their shell and they exploded and broke the oven’s thermometer. We couldn’t get parts for it and they didn’t make ovens that size anymore so for years we had no temperature control, the oven would just get hotter and hotter. It was a pink Caloric oven from the 60s. With the advent of Craigslist we eventually found one that fit.

[quote] My kooky aunt roasted some in our oven one Christmas in their shell and they exploded

Yeah you have to put a slit in the shell before roasting.

[quote] My kooky aunt roasted some in our oven one Christmas in their shell and they exploded

That’s because she didn’t score the shell before she put them in the oven. The cut is often in the shape of a cross.

Prone to parasites. Someone gave me a sack of fresh chestnuts and before I could get to roasting them I began noticing an invasion of tiny little worms that had chawed their way through tiny little circles of plastic bag after drilling their way out of the chestnuts. I’ve no interest in the product since.

Waste not, want not r47

I have some in a dish on my counter. Haven’t decided what I want to do with them yet.

They look pretty but i'm still unsure whether to take a bite.

I get them in New York at a knish street vendor

I had some recently out of a little bag such as was shown in r28 . I was not a fan. They were very bland, slightly slimy and not at all "nut-like". Hot and freshly roasted would probably be ok, but nothing I'd ever crave.

Take a bite, OP. Stop being such a Mary, starting a thread and contemplating for 24 hours. Next thread will be: my chestnuts are rotting.

I eat them all the time when they're in season, which is only a month or two, sadly. The roasted ones are delicious, but I never much cared for the cooked ones.

At the present time the chestnuts imported from Italy are your best best, the Asian ones just don't measure up and unfortunately American chestnuts, which have superior flavor, are all but unavailable. Botanists and orchardists have been working for decades to restore the American chestnut to its former glory, and there have been breeding successes, but no large scale commercially viable stands of chestnuts exist.

If you have the option of picking out individual ones from a display, go for the plumpest ones that seem heavy for their size. When you get them home dump them in a bowl of water and discard the ones that float, invariably they will be moldy. Cut an X on the flat side of each one(to keep them from exploding), then roast them in one layer in a 350F oven for several minutes, occasionally shaking the pan to insure even cooking. It's the hot, dry heat that caramelizes the sugars, leading to a tastier product. Once the edges of the X have curled back, peel one and judge the doneness for yourself. They can also be simmered in water or water and milk prior to roasting.

Don't want to go to all this fuss? I can recommend the cooked chestnuts found in plastic/foil-y packages. Now you're all set to add them to poultry stuffings, make a Mont Blanc or candy them for your very own marrons glace'.

A seasonal Spanish tapa is rounds of toasted goat cheese topped with a chestnut confitada. A bit of caramelized onion or walnut is often sprinkled on top. I've had it a few times already this year. Every bar and restaurant version is a bit different.

I’ve you, R9

Never had them raw. Only roasted and sugared.

What do you call…

two nuts on a pea? Peanuts.

Two nuts on a wall? Walnuts.

Two nuts in Brazil? Brazil nuts.

Two nuts on your chest? A dick in your mouth 🤭😈

Under a spreading chestnut tree...