Foraging for Sweet Chestnuts
Now is the time to be collecting your sweet chestnuts.As the October winds get going, there will plenty more of them to collect from under the trees. Don’t confuse them with horse chestnuts (conkers), which are inedible. You can see pictures of the sweet chestnut tree in the Woodlands.co.uk Tree Identification Guide.The hedgehog-like cases are covered in long, pliable, green spikes. Split open, they contain 2-3 shiny, roughly triangular nuts with a distinctive tuft on the end.
Although the European sweet chestnut originated in Greece, and is therefore not strictly speaking native to this country, references to the nuts as a foodstuff are found from ancient times.The Romans planted trees across the empire, explaining why “castan” (the Latin word) appears in various versions throughout Europe, for instance “castanwydden” in Welsh, “kistin” in Breton, “châtaigne” in French and “chestnut” in English.
Chestnuts are not like other nuts. They have a mealy, floury texture and are mostly carbohydrate, unlike most nuts, which are protein-rich. Where land was not suitable for cultivating grain crops because it was mountainous and/or forested, the nuts were a valuable food source and were ground into flour. Chestnut flour is still used in rural French and Italian cooking to this day. It is also worth noting that chestnut flour has no gluten and is therefore suitable for a gluten-free diet.
Assuming you’re too hungry to go to the trouble of milling your nuts into flour, what do you do with them? The sweet chestnut tree is very high in tannins and some people say the nuts are too bitter to eat raw. I’ve nibbled on a few straight from the shell and haven’t found this so, although perhaps a bit indigestible if you ate more than a couple in one go I think. Cooked, they taste slightly nutty and fairly bland, but they work well as bulk and go with lots of other flavours. Preparing chestnuts is not difficult, but a bit laborious, so get comfortable and enlist some help and company. Put the nuts in a big bowl and pour boiling water over them. Leave them for a couple of minutes to let the skins soften. Then scoop some out into a second bowl of cold water to cool them enough for you to be able to handle them. Peel these, and carry on in this manner until you’ve worked your way through the bowlful. Once peeled they can be made into warming soup, cooked with sprouts and bacon, added to stews or stuffings, or soaked in syrup for traditional marrons glacés.
Alternatively, and best of all, you could slit the skins with a knife (they explode otherwise) and roast them. A good reason to get the barbie out for a last airing.
Chestnut Soup
- a couple of handfuls of peeled chestnuts
- 2 pints of chicken or ham stock
- butter or oil
- 1 chopped onion
- some grilled bacon, crumbled
- chopped parsley or chives
- salt and pepper
Soften the chopped onion in a knob of butter or a tablespoon of oil. Add the chestnuts and stock and bring up to the boil. Simmer until the chestnuts have collapsed. Season to taste, and add some crumbled bacon and chopped herbs.
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Discussion
Hi Fiona
I believe that chestnuts need a warm summer – over 26 degrees to be nice and big…. not sure if we had that!
My favourite place for chestnuts is at Church in the Wood, St Leonards, East Sussex. Take the path that runs along the left side of graveyard and past the far end of the graveyard into the wood take the right path down for several hundred yards (chestnut trees start here) then turn left back up (should be houses on right)then at junction take the path ahead through holly bushes. I`ve been going here for about 45 years and on a good year and timing it right I have had carrier bags full in just one visit. Hope this helps but remember it`s all about timing it right.
anyone any suggestions of where to go to sweet chestnuts picking not too far from london??? Many thanks!
I live on Merseyside and have found a number of trees but they only seem to have small, flat, empty nuts, does anyone know if this is an issue with the variety, or the weather or something else?
I have also been searching the woods in the Chiltern Downs here in Dunstable, looking for these gems. Currently I’ve not seen any. If anyone knows of any let me know. There’s a big sweet chestnut tree in the forecourt of St Thomas’s Hospital, opposite Westminster, but unless your into inner London foraging (!) then maybe not.
i like to go foraging for them in the school holidays, but in Berkshire they can tend to be pretty scarce due to the growing population of GREY SQUIRRELS
Lorenzo, try at the grounds of Mount Saint Bernard Abbey – i remember seeing them there when i visited a few years ago. I guess it would be a good idea to ask before you collect. Let me know how you get on! [email protected].
Hi Neil and Dooj,
I live in Worthing and would love to know where you can go to for finding chestnuts, would you be prepared to divulge?
Hello. Live in Loughborough in Leicestershire. Does anyone know of some good places to go foraging for chestnuts. I used to find some near Coalville when I went on my bike as a youth but can’t remember where.
I went out collectng these yesterday in Knowle park in Sevenoaks. If you go up St Julians Raod off River Hill and enter via the second gate, walk along and then turn left at the first main path you come to there are lines of the trees and the ground underneath them is covered in chestnuts.
Hi Dooj, I live in Lewes and my daughter has just phoned me up to see if I know of a good place in or near Lewes to pick some. She wants to take her children out for a chestnut hunt. Gordon.
Hi Andy,
I would be very interested in some chestnuts. Which part of the country are you based or are you able to post them? Thanks very much.
I have just been for a walk in a woodland I know in Sussex that has many large Chestnut trees. I think it will be better to wait few more weeks as they will be sweeter.
Hi Andy
I’m always interested in where I can get sweet chestnuts. A night by the fire with the roasting pan is nothing less than perfection. If you could let me know where you are that would be great. With that in mind, could anyone tell me of any good chestnut foraging sites in the west kent area that would be really helpful.
We have a good supply of sweet chestnuts for sale if anyone interested.
Hi Jennifer deeper in to Sussex away from the sea going out Lewes way is a good area to look – i have a few tried and tested spots. I hope to get out looking today. Give me a shout if you want more specific help.
Hi, anyone know a good wood to find chestnuts near brighton or in the east sussex area?
Hi Maureen
try this: http://www.lost-in-france.com/cuisine/313-chestnuts-autumns-bounty
I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW ONE CAN KEEP LARGE QUANTITY OF CHESTNUTS.
I HAVE COLLECTED THESE BUT FOUND THAT THOSE NOT EATEN SOON GO MOLDY/ OR BAD INSIDE
EVEN THROUGH I PLACED THEM NOT ON TOP OF EACH OTHER.
SHOULD I HAVE SPRAYED THEM WITH SOMETHING OR WHAT?
HOW LONG CAN CHESTNUTS BE KEPT FOR?
For Keren.Still have a few kilo’s left, but next year could sell you any amount,much much cheaper. By the way, they’re large and from the Limousin, France.Post a reply if you wish to make contact.
I’ve seen Tesco selling them at £4.99 per Kg. I’ve decided to go and forage for some myself although I fear I have left it far too late this year.
Excellent blog and recipe ideas.
Anyone know where you can buy large quantities of chestnuts?
We would love to harvest more chestnuts from our wood this year, but the summer wasn’t warm enough. I read in a chestnut book that the summer needs to be over 27degrees for a good length of time for the nuts to grow. This year the nuts are so tiny.
I suspect that we will have some hungry woodland animals too!
I am a big fan of sweet chestnuts and make my own chestnut and parsnip soup (with details and pictures at http://www.jeremytaylor.eu/chestnut_soup.htm ). Interestingly, I saw a book my Gordon Ramsey which has an almost identical recipe to mine. Clearly great minds think alike…
Hi,
I’m desperate for chestnuts! I adore them, but nobody I know could tell me where to go in Cambridgeshire to collect some. Anybody would know of some woods around Cambridge? (I’ll also be looking for trumpets of death, but I’m not sure if they’re found around here)
Cheers,
Steph
Stephane
12 October, 2010