Chestnuts | Imamother

Amarante

Fri, Feb 04 2022, 1:41 pm

I don’t know if this helps but I just do an x shaped slit in chestnuts and roast in the oven. They are delicious plain. I also have used them in a Turkey stuffing.

My Zeide used to make chestnuts and so it is a fond memory.

He would also give us pomegranates but in Brooklyn they were called Chinese Apples. 🤷‍♀️

Last edited by Amarante on Fri, Feb 04 2022, 2:02 pm; edited 1 time in total

Chayalle

Fri, Feb 04 2022, 1:51 pm

I remember my parents roasting chestnuts similar to the way you describe, Amarante. My mother A"H used to give a sewing seam ripper to use, to poke a hole in the chestnut. I guess this is so it would not explode.

And they also called pomegranates Chinese Apples.

annalee

Fri, Feb 04 2022, 1:59 pm

Chayalle wrote:

Yeah. They’ll explode otherwise. I speak from experience. Confused

Amarante

Fri, Feb 04 2022, 2:00 pm

Chayalle wrote:

I love the idea of using a seam ripper. And it is so the chestnut doesn’t explode from the moisture turning into steam.

I thought I had imagined pomegranates being called Chinese Apples because as an adult they were always called pomegranates by everyone but then I googled and it is an older term specific to Brooklyn. 😂

Della

Fri, Feb 04 2022, 2:24 pm

Amarante wrote:

The term Chinese apple may have originated in Brooklyn but I grew up in Florida and we also called them Chinese apples.
And my father and grandfather also roasted chestnuts.
Is there a connection there?🤔

Amarante

Fri, Feb 04 2022, 2:43 pm

Della wrote:

I bet it was people who migrated from Brooklyn 😂

And in all seriousness I think roasted chestnuts are an iconic part of old New York because there used to be street peddlers who would sell a bag of hot roasted chestnuts on the streets in the winter from push carts. So anyone who grew up in that era would think of roasted chestnuts as something that was a treat.

In my family it definitely was a bit of a special treat because it wasn’t an everyday or even weekly food. We would have it maybe once a season when it started to get nippy.

Does this include migrations from Brooklyn to Florida😂😂🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

The pomegranate was highly esteemed by the wandering Israelites, who expressed their longing to return to the promised land “wherein fig trees and pomegranates, and olive yards grow.” The poet of the “Song of Songs” mentions the pomegranate no fewer than six times, comparing his beloved to “a park of pomegranates” whose cheeks resemble a “pomegranate split open’

The fruit figured significantly in early Jewish decorative art, and was embroidered into the hem of the high priest's robe and carved into the capitals of the temple pillars. It has been suggested that in these contexts, the pomegranate was symbolic of sanctity, abundance and faithfulness.

ez-pass

Fri, Feb 04 2022, 3:12 pm

I roast chestnuts every week for our shabbos meal. We love them here. I have done it both ways, with the slit and without the slit they both work. I rarely ever had an exploded chestnut from not slitting it. I recently bought a chestnut slitter on SheIn that works well.
They are yum!!

Amarante

Sun, Feb 06 2022, 3:50 pm

FranticFrummie wrote:

I have never had a chestnut! What do they taste like?

Like any food the taste is difficult to describe - I would joke and say it tastes like chicken because that is what frogs legs and alligator is supposed to taste like - that's a joke. LOL

Chestnuts have a mild flavor - like a good grain plus the best ones have a bit of natural sweetness - like a cashew might have a bit of sweetness although no one would say it is sweet like a cookie.

If you seem them for sale at some point it is worth buying as I am sure you wouldn't dislike them. As posted, you just slit the top to let the steam escape and then roast them in the oven. I always burn my thumbs because I can't wait for them to cool sufficiently.

iyar

Sun, Feb 06 2022, 4:15 pm

FranticFrummie wrote:

I have never had a chestnut! What do they taste like?

Do you get Korean yams aka Japanese sweet potatoes where you live? They're the ones with a reddish peel that are a creamy pale yellow on the inside. Chestnuts have a similar taste and texture but have a slightly more interesting, more complicated flavor profile.