chestnuts - what are they like?

[osprey]

Do chestnuts taste similar to water chestnuts? I passed a vendor on the weekend but didn't stop as I was loaded down but they smelt OK and there was a crowd around him.

[joggerjayne]

They are yummy

The nearest thing taste wise, I think, is ... walnuts, perhaps?

[ummmm]

They are very nice.

[mccfluff]

noo they don;t taste like walnuts or water chestnuts, they have quite a sweet taste to them, not sure of a comparison though

[joggerjayne]

But you do tend to burn the ends of your fingers trying to open the shells

And most of the nut sticks inside the shell

And you have nowhere to drop the bits

And then your hands are covered in charcoal from the burnt shells

[joggerjayne]

You're better off buying vacuum packed chestnuts (without shells)

(Waitrose sell them in 200g packs ... about the size of a bag of crisps)

... and roast them yourself.

[fredpuli47]

You have to be a bit lucky with your vendor. Some of the nuts may be burnt and hard on the edges. But , properly done, they're very tasty (and not like water-chestnuts). Better from a vendor, they're a pain to cook in an open fire's cinders or glowing coals and, doing it any other way, the results aren't as good.

[craft1948]

if you've got an open fire roast them on the fire on a clean shovel....

[Bapla]

they just taste like crap.

[funnygirl]

I love roasted chestnuts and am forever buying bags of them.

It is hard to create the same flavour you get from the roastiness at home.

[Androcles]

Also - see previous question http://www.theanswerb...k/Question835010.html

[Quizmonkey]

They are THE taste of Christmas! Buy them loose from a market or supermarket. To cook, half split each one with a sharp knife, parboil for a couple of minutes, then roast under a very hot grill, turning once, until they begin to char. You can also microwave them (after splitting) for two minutes - but you don't get the roasted taste!

[lucca]

Parboil as Quizmonkey says but then roast in a dish for 30 mins. Theyhave that lovely toasted taste and the insides are soft. Bit messy to open but worth it.

[lucca]

I mean roast in the oven, not under grill. You don't have to watch and turn them.

[Mr Veritas]

Just a bit of information:~
Water Chestnuts are not chestnuts of any kind,indeed they are not even nuts.
They are the underwater tubers of an aquatic plant closely related to the water lilly!

[alfiesgirl]

They taste nothing at all like water-chestnuts and have a bitter-sweet "conker type" of taste if you can imagine that..the huge crowd of people were probably just warming their hands i reckon as they smell far better than they taste!

[katerich48]

re Chestnuts - my dad worked in Covent Garden Market for about 60 years and what he told me to remember about chestnuts was.... if you buy them uncooked always put them in a bowl of water first... whatever floats to the top throw away as these are no good... this is true as I did my chestnut stuffing yesterday and out of a pound bag of chestnuts 2 floated (so they got buzzed) ... also be careful when you buy them roasted in the street as when chestnuts go off they turn maggotty (nice) So be careful who you buy them from...

[NoMercy]

I bought a bag of dried chestnuts, soaked them in water and then boiled them til they were tender. I added some coarsly chopped chestnuts to my stuffing, and the rest will go with the sprouts. They are delicious btw.