Delicious and Healthy Food

Chestnuts are a delicious and healthy food! They are high in carbohydrates (45%) and very low in fat (2-4%), while other nuts are over 50% in fat. Nutritionally, chestnuts are like a "grain that grows on a tree" and are similar nutritionally to wheat and brown rice. Chestnuts contain 5-10% high quality protein and no cholesterol. Low fat, high carbohydrate diets are recommended by the American Heart and Cancer Associations.

The following is a nutritional analysis of 1 oz of chestnuts (28 grams or about 2 nuts)

Calories
60
Protein
2 gm
Carbohydrates
13 gm
Fat
1 gm
Sodium
1mg
Vitamin C
20% US RDA


Chestnuts are excellent roasted or steamed (cut an "X" in the point of the nut so the shell splits easily) for 10-15 minutes. Chestnut dressing with turkey is a holiday tradition and chestnuts are wonderful in soups, stews, and with vegetables, or in desserts such as pastries, tortes and ice cream.  Chestnut flour adds a rich, sweet flavor to cakes, breads and pasta.  Chestnut puree, blended with butter and whipping cream, can be spiced and used with main dishes, or sweetened with honey and topped with sweet whipped cream for the traditional European dessert, "Mont Blanc."


Chestnuts have been part of the cultures of Europe and the Orient for thousands of years, as they were to the Native Americans.  They were a rich source of carbohydrate that was produced annually, with no tillage and only the work to collect the harvest in the fall.  It was such a part of the European culture that children were released from school during harvest time, much like they were in America when the field crops came in during the summers.

There are many traditional recipes and uses of chestnuts.  Chestnut flour, made from grinding chestnuts dried in the smoke over a chestnut wood fire, was used in cakes and breads (and it is gluten free).   Chestnut honey is considered an aphrodisiac in Italy!  Chestnut wine is a delicious dessert wine with rich chocolate and cherry flavors.  Chestnut-fed pork is considered a delicacy, so much so that in many parts of Europe, pigs are fed on chestnuts to produce such specialties as the Estremaduran hams and jamon iberico, from Spain.