chestnuts-msg – 4/13/19

Medieval harvesting and use of chestnuts. Roasting. Recipes. 

NOTE: See also the files: nuts-msg, soup-msg, flour-msg, almond-milk-msg, hais-msg, comfits-msg, almond-cream-msg, Pynade-art.

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Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 22:44:52 -0500
From: Maddie Teller-Kook <meadhbh at io.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Chestnuts Roasting on an...

Bronwynmgn at aol.com wrote:
> My lord and I were given a large bag of chestnuts straight from the tree this
> evening.  We have no idea what to do with them.  Any suggestions?  Are there
> any period recipes in which chestnuts are appropriate, and does anyone know
> how to roast them?
 
> Brangwayna Morgan
I just got Terence Scully's "Early French Cooking". There is a recipe
for a stuffed pork roast. The stuffing consists of pears, chestnuts,
buttery cheese and seasonings. Looks delicious. I plan to make it for a
dinner in a few weeks. Let ya know how it goes.

meadhbh


Date: Wed, 8 Oct 97 05:05:29 UT
From: "Paul Louis" <pocopup at classic.msn.com>
Subject: RE: SC - Chestnuts Roasting on an...

	To roast chestnuts in any kind of quantity, 1st , slice an *x* in the tops 
where they are lighter brown. You are cutting through the shell layer in order 
to keep the chestnut from exploding when they are roasted. place them on a 
sheet tray, and roast in a 375 oven till they open . approx. 10 min. I like 
mine with a pinch of salt , other of my friends like them with butter......
Recipies I have played around with include, chestnut ice-cream, using the 
roasted chestnuts ground up  when baking rye bread, and tossed in a bitter 
greens salad with a cranberry vinigrette.

Olga


Date: Wed, 08 Oct 1997 12:23:41 -0400
From: marilyn traber <margali at 99main.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Chestnuts Roasting on an...

> My lord and I were given a large bag of chestnuts straight from the tree this
> evening.  We have no idea what to do with them.  Any suggestions?  Are there
> any period recipes in which chestnuts are appropriate, and does anyone
> know how to roast them?
 
> Brangwayna Morgan

Take them, cut a small x over the odd patch where they were attatched to
the stem, pop them into boiling water for about 5 minutes or put them
into a mesh fireplace popcorn popper over good hot coals for about 5
minutes, shaking frequently or spread them on a cookie sheet and bake at
450 for about 5 mintues. These will loosen the husk and when cooled
allow you to peel them.

Take the chestnut meats, place into honey and water, poach until soft,
then remove and puree, add spices and a dab of honey and fill small
pastrys or creme puffs with the goo.

If you take the meats, dunk in honey and do the honey roast/fry thing,
they are good rolled in coarsely chopped raw almonds as a taste and
texture contrast.

take the softened chestnuts and coat liberally with buttercream candy
mix[1bag 10x sugar, a flavor extract, enough melted butter to make a
stiff paste] and let the shell harden, they are called nipples of venus

margali


Date: Fri, 25 Aug 2000 23:35:54 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - interesting URL - food shopping!

> I've found a lovely site that has chestnut flour.
> Any ideas what to do with it? 
> www.ethnicgrocer.com
> 
> Diana d'Avignon

There's a northern Italian um, I don't know what to call it... a gateau,
perhaps. A big flat cake, or maybe an enormous cookie, made with
chestnut flour and pignoles. Castignacci? I'll have to take a bit to
look up details.

Adamantius


Date: Sat, 26 Aug 2000 12:35:29 EDT
From: DeSevyngy at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - interesting URL - food shopping!

<< > Diana wrote: 
 > I've found a lovely site that has chestnut flour.
 > Any ideas what to do with it?

 Adamantius responded:
<< There's a northern Italian um, I don't know what to call it... a gateau,
 perhaps. A big flat cake, or maybe an enormous cookie, made with
 chestnut flour and pignoles. Castignacci? I'll have to take a bit to
 look up details.
  >>

 It is, in fact, called Castagnaccio, and resembles the funny cakelike bar 
cookies that my mom was so fond of making when I was a kid.  I found out 
later, she didn't have the patience to spoon out individual cookies and keep 
an eye out the window while I was out inventing tackle-asphault-baseball and 
games of the kind, so all the dough went in a big pan!  

This recipe that I share below is from one of Lorenza de'Medici cookbooks.  
While the printing of this recipe is decidedly OOP, the root recipe is a 
period one.  I do recall several years ago (maybe a decade), seeing this 
recipe in a period source book and recalling that is was pretty much 
identical to the one I had in Lorenza's book.  Unfortunately, this was at a 
time when my only interest in the SCA was fighting, hence, I neglected to 
even write down the name of the source.  Bad Isabeau, no biscuit.  

At any rate, the full recipe and authors comments are below.  I have made 
this recipe several times (every time I have chestnut flour) and it is 
fabulous.  If you plan on serving it at a feast, I strongly suggest that you 
serve it at lunch, freshly out of the oven.  It definately get heavy and a 
bit greasy when let to sit too long.  Also, this recipe for 6 calls for an 
11-in non-springform tart pan, although I now have one especially for this 
cake, I used a glass 9x13in casserole pan for years with no ill effect to the 
texture or baking time of the cake.

Hmm, a dear friend of mine is going to be the chef at our Baronies annual 
winter formal feast next year.  I wonder if I can bribe her into putting this 
cake on the menu?!? <veg>

Isabeau
_________________________________
Castagnaccio
chestnut cake

This is an ancient and very popular cake recipe. Castagnaccio is
often sold in the streets of Florence during autumn and early 
winter.  It is best when freshly made, and should be served warm.
_________________________________

1/4 cup (1oz/30g) raisins
3 cups (12oz/375g) chestnut flour
2 1/2 cups (20 fl oz/600ml) water
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
pinch of salt
1/4 cup (1 1/2oz/45g) pine nuts
2 fresh rosemary sprigs, finely chopped

+ Soak the raisins in water to cover for 1 hour.
+ In a bowl, mix the flour, water, 2 tablespoons olive oil
and the salt to form a creamy dough.
+ Add 3 tablespoons pine nuts and the rosemary.
+ Preheat oven to 450*F (230*C). Pour the remaining oil
into an 11-in (27-cm) tart pan (do not use a pan with 
removable bottom) and add the dough. Do not pour off
excess oil.
+ Drain the raisins. Sprinkle the dough with the raisins
and the remaining pine nuts. Bake for about 20 minutes or
until the surface of the castagnaccio begins to crack.
+ Pour off the excess oil. Remove castagnaccio from
the pan and serve warm.
__________________________________
serves 6
__________________________________

HL Isabeau de Sevyngy
Squired to Sir Sakura kita no Maikeru
Shire of Gryphon's Lair
Artemisia


Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2000 23:32:12 -0700
From: "David Dendy" <ddendy at silk.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Help!!!!

>I am in serious need of some information.  I am cooking that Oriental
>feast weekend after next (9/23) and am in need of several ingredients
>which I cannot seem to locate.  I hope some one of you will know where I
>can find them:
>[snip] 

>    Chestnuts

Chestnuts can usually be had, in dried form, in Italian groceries.

Francesco


Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2001 10:08:27 -0400
From: margali <margali at 99main.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Southern California Chestnut resource?

They do make a commercial chestnut paste -
http://causses-cevennes.com/produits/Verfeuille2-UK.htm
my favorite brand. I like the glass jars.

margali
[and the ones soaked in brandy are a great secret ingredient for
stuffing ;-)]


From: lilinah at earthlink.net
Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2001 17:47:49 -0700
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Southern California Chestnut resource?

>Where in southern California would you find chestnuts this time of year?
>Magnus Grehatta is doing a recipe for the Talanque Tourney this weekend
>that requires a chestnut paste, and we can't seem to find chestnuts.
>
>Surely there is an ethnic grocery or some little place that caters to
>little old ladies that would have such a thing!  So far the local British
>food shops have been scoured, the natural food shops, the weird food shops,
>and nobody has chestnuts. Water chesnuts they have aplenty, but not just
>plain old regular chestnuts!!
>
>Maggie MacD.

French. French. French.

Chestnut paste is used in the making of a dessert called a Mont
Blanc. There's a brand in a can - white with brown chestnuts and
green leaves on it - i think it's Clement Faugier. Look in the
gourmet aisle of a good supermarket or in a gourmet shop. Shouldn't
be that hard to find...

Anahita


From: lilinah at earthlink.net
Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2001 19:03:28 -0700
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Southern California Chestnut resource?

>The chestnut stuff that the cook needs has to be sugar free, so the
>packaged pastes won't work in this particular case.

Probably won't be useful to you, but for anyone else...

Clement Faugier make several types of packaged chestnut thingies.

There are "marrons glaces", which are whole chestnuts cooked in and
packaged in sugar syrup. They're often in a glass jar so you can
appreciate how much like miniature pickled brains they look.

Then there are cans of chestnut puree and chestnut paste. One has
sugar. The other is unsweetened. But i forget which.

I think they also make chocolate-covered marrons glacees.

So if anyone else needs unsweetened chestnut paste, you might be able
to use this. All the Japanese chestnut pastes i've seen are
pre-sweetened.

Anahita


Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2001 09:54:39 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Pixel, Queen of Cats" <pixel at hundred-acre-wood.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Southern California Chestnut resource?

On Mon, 18 Jun 2001, margali wrote:
> They do make a commercial chestnut paste -
>
> http://causses-cevennes.com/produits/Verfeuille2-UK.htm
> my favorite brand. I like the glass jars.
>
> margali

http://coenzymedesign.com/portfolio/chestnut/catalog.htm

They have chestnut paste, and they're in CA. ;-)

Margaret FitzWilliam


Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2001 10:52:50 -0700 (PDT)
From: Huette von Ahrens <ahrenshav at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Southern California Chestnut resource?
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

Also, the French word for Chestnut is Marron.
Sometimes it is called Pate de Marron, or something
similar.

Huette


Date: Fri, 18 Apr 2003 18:03:27 -0400
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] chestnuts
From: David Tallan <DTALLAN8500 at rogers.com>
To: SCA-Cooks <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

One possibility is the Viandier's "Soutil brouet d'Angleterre" (Subtle
English Browet):

Grind together chestnuts that have been cooked and peeled, egg yolks cooked
in wine, and a little pork liver, moisten this with a little warm water, and
strain it; grind ginger, [cinnamon,] cloves, [long pepper, grains of
paradise, galingale, spikenard,] and saffron for colour, and boil everything
together.
(Scully translation no. 24, [] indicates material not in Vatican manuscript,
but in one or more of the others).

There are a number of other version of this recipe,

The Menagier de Paris has it (p. M-20 in the Hinson translation).
The Vivendier has it (recipe 23, p. 50 in the Scully translation).
Trait de Cuisine has it (p. T-2 in the Hinson translation)

I'm not sure who all has redacted it. I know that Anne Willan has in:
Willan, Anne. Great Cooks And Their Recipes From Taillevent to Escoffier.
(Little Brown and Company) 1992.

I hope that this helps,
David Tallan (Thomas)

On 4/17/03 2:29 PM, "Pixel, Goddess and Queen" <pixel at hundred-acre-wood.com>
wrote:
>>>
I was in Cost Plus the other day, and they had pound jars of peeled
chestnuts so I bought a couple. Now what do I do with them? What did they
do with them in period?

Margaret
<<<


Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 13:55:53 -0400
From: Jadwiga Zajaczkowa / Jenne Heise <jenne at fiedlerfamily.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Chestnuts Chestnuts Everywhere
To: Barbara Benson <voxeight at gmail.com>,	Cooks within the SCA
	<sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

> Being that chestnuts when purchased are very expensive I thought I
> would at least try to do something with this literal windfall. I know
> that they are a period nut and I have found some interesting info in
> the Florithingie - albeit some of it quite dated.

Pleyn Delight, I believe, has a recipe for turnips with chestnuts. It
didn't turn out the way we wanted it when we tried it, but I think we
probably could have gotten something we liked better had we had a lot of
chestnuts to experiment with.

-- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, Knowledge Pika jenne at fiedlerfamily.net 


Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 14:14:44 -0400
From: Daniel Myers <edouard at medievalcookery.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Chestnuts Chestnuts Everywhere
To: Barbara Benson <voxeight at gmail.com>,	Cooks within the SCA
	<sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

On Sep 20, 2004, at 1:49 PM, Barbara Benson wrote:
> So, if anyone has any interesting, period references to chestnuts to
> share I would love to accumulate some recipes (read: as many as
> possible). From all different time periods and cultures.

Here are a few from a quick search ...

From:  Le Menagier de Paris (Janet Hinson, trans.)
Venison of Deer or Other Beast, If you wish to salt it in summer, it is
appropriate to salt it in a wash-tub or bath, ground coarse salt, and
after dry it in the sun. Haunch, that is the rump, which is salted,
should be cooked first in water and wine for the first boiling to draw
out the salt: and then throw out the water and wine, and after put to
partly cook in a bouillon of meat and turnips, and serve in slices with
some of the liquid in a dish and venison.

Item, if you have small young turnips, you should cook it in water and
without wine for the first boiling, then throw out the water, and then
partly cook in water and wine and with sweet chestnuts, or if you have
no chestnuts, some sage: then serve as above.

From:  Le Menagier de Paris (Janet Hinson, trans.)
Subtle Broth from England. Take cooked peeled sweet chestnuts, and as
many or more hard-boiled egg yolks and pork liver: grind all together,
mix with warm water, then put through a sieve; then grind ginger,
cinnamon, clove, grain, long pepper, galingale and saffron to give it
color and set to boil together.

From:  Le Menagier de Paris (Janet Hinson, trans.)
Stuffed Piglet. Have the piglet killed and its throat cut and let it be
scalded in boiling water, then skinned: then take some lean pork, and
remove the fat and innards of the piglet and put it on to cook in
water, and take twenty eggs and cook them hard, and some sweet
chestnuts cooked in water and peeled: then take the egg yolks, sweet
chestnuts, fine old cheese, and the cooked meat of a leg of pork, and
chop it up, then grind with saffron and a large amount of powdered
ginger mixed in with the meat; and if your meat is too hard, mix in egg
yolks. And do not split open your piglet's stomach but cut the smallest
hole possible: then put it on the spit, and then push your stuffing
inside, and sew it up with a large needle; and it should be eaten
either with yellow pepper if it is winter, or with a cameline sauce if
it is summer.

From:  Le Menagier de Paris (Janet Hinson, trans.)
RISSOLES ON A FISH DAY. Cook chestnuts on a low fire and peel them, and
have hard-cooked eggs and peeled cheese and chop it all up small; then
pour on egg yolks, and mix in powdered herbs and a very little
free-running salt, and make your rissoles, then fry in lots of oil and
add sugar. And note, in Lent, instead of eggs and cheese, put in cooked
whiting and sciaena, chopped very small, or the flesh of pike or eels,
and chopped figs and dates.

From:  Le Menagier de Paris (Janet Hinson, trans.)
A MUST SAUCE (for Starlings? don't think so: JH). Take new black
grapes, and squish them in the mortar, and boil up a bouillon, then
strain through a sieve: and then throw on powdered spices, a little
ginger and more cinnamon, or cinnamon alone for it is better, and stir
a little with a silver spoon, and throw in crusts or toasted bread or
eggs or chestnuts to thicken it: some red sugar, and serve.

From:  Le Menagier de Paris (Janet Hinson, trans.)
TO MAKE A BOAR INTO A GOOD PIG. Take a boar of two years old or
thereabouts, and in May or June castrate him, and in boar-hunting
season hunt it down, singe it and butcher it like a boar. Or else thus:
take some tame pig which may be scalded, and cook it in half water half
wine, and serve in a dish of this stew, turnips and chestnuts and the
meat.

From:  Le Viandier de Taillevent (James Prescott, trans.)
Subtle English soup. Take cooked peeled chestnuts, egg yolks cooked in
wine, and a bit of pork liver. Crush everything together, soak with a
bit of lukewarm water, and sieve. Grind ginger, cloves and saffron (to
give colour), and boil together.

From:  Le Viandier de Taillevent (James Prescott, trans.)
Stuffed piglet or pig. Scald it, wash it well, and put it on the spit.
The stuffing is made of pork pluck, cooked pork meat, some egg yolks,
harvest cheese, cooked peeled chestnuts and good Spice Powder. Put
everything in the piglet's belly, stitch up the slit, and put it to
roast. Baste it with a spoon, while turning the roast, with vinegar and
good boiling drippings. Eat it hot with Yellow Pepper [Sauce]. Some
lazy persons eat it with Cameline [Sauce].

- Doc
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
   Edouard Halidai  (Daniel Myers)


Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 19:36:06 -0700 (PDT)
From: R J <chaingangorg at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Chestnuts Chestnuts Everywhere
To: Barbara Benson <voxeight at gmail.com>,	Cooks within the SCA
	<sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Congrats on the new home!

  I would like to request that you contact your local
agricultural co-op extension, there is one in every
county.
  The reason I mention this is that there are edible
chestnuts, and some that aren't meant to be food. The
ag-extension people ought to be able to help you
verify whether yours are "food" or not.

  If they are food, I rather like to use a fake
fingernail from a halloween store to help me pick the
annoying fuzz off.
  They can be canned or frozen, whole, in chunks, or
even in a meal.

  Of course, they are also reputed to be pretty dang
good pig food, so you can always look for pork recipes
instead!

All the best,
  AEsa


Date: Fri, 2 Dec 2005 05:07:13 -0500
From: "Terri Morgan" <nothingbutadame at inthe.sca.org>
Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] Chestnuts - Revisited
To: "'Cooks within the SCA'" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

    We roasted some (quite by accident, at first) at a demo that we attend
every year. Our firepit was close enough to a massive tree that a few
chestnuts made their way into the coals. They were quite tasty - but before
we learned that, we were dodging chestnut-missiles as they exploded from the
firebed. As far as I can tell, so long as they are relatively fresh, the
moisture inside of them is going to be enough to pop the shell open for you
(this might be why some recipes call for soaking them) and propel them with
some force.

    Make sure you have a covered pan that can release steam (we used a
popcorn-popping cast iron pan) and I hope your family enjoys the experience.
The taste is wonderful and for all that few of us had ever eaten "chestnuts
roasted on an open fire", we all agreed that somehow it touched a mutual
memory-chord.

Hrothny


Date: Fri, 02 Dec 2005 06:35:56 -0800
From: elisabetta at klotz.org
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: Chestnuts - Revisited
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

> Please, share your experiences and insights in roasting chestnuts.  
> I would so appreciate it. Thank you.
>
> Molli Rose

We "x" them and soak them. The "x" is not just so they won't explode due to
steam, but also because it is much easier to peel them. Most of the chestnuts
get boiled for the turkey stuffing, but a few get taken out of the water and
thrown into a pan and baked in the oven with the turkey until they smell done,
about 10 minutes.

I highly recommend "x"ing them instead of just pricking, but since most of ours
are boiled, I'm not sure if the "x" will affect the roasting process.

Elisabetta


Date: Fri, 02 Dec 2005 09:44:35 -0500
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius"
	<adamantius.magister at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Chestnuts - Revisited
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Okay, so what do people do with chestnuts? Apart from the usual
roasted, or in stuffing?

I believe there's a brewet in either Taillevent or le Menagier (but
called "English") that calls for them, as well as some 14th-century
English recipes. I STR there's a recipe in Apicius that uses them in
a lentil dish that I liked.

More recently there's a modern Italian cake that involves baking
sweetened puree with pine nuts (I wanna say it's called castignacci,
but I'm not sure this is an accurate memory, and my books are all
over the place -- I mean big-time -- at the moment while we rearrange
furniture yet again). This might easily be period, although I have no
direct evidence, and it's been alleged that the modern French Mont
Blanc aux marrons has period Italian forebears. This last is
basically a mound of milled or "riced" chestnut puree, sweetened and
flavored with vanilla, then coated with whipped cream. Oddly enough
it also sometimes turns up on the menus of the finer Chinese
restaurants (usually without the whipped cream), and chestnuts also
appear in the fillings of various steamed rice dumplings roughly
corresponding to tamales.

Then there are candied chestnuts (not my fave), and chestnut flour
sometimes turns up around Passover one of the primary baking starches
for flourless cakes.

Chestnut ice cream is good, too, and I assume one could make a sort
of sweet-potato pie thingy with them, too. Polenta.

What have I left out?

Adamantius


Date: Fri, 2 Dec 2005 12:58:42 -0500
From: ranvaig at columbus.rr.com
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Chestnuts - Revisited
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

> Please, share your experiences and insights in roasting chestnuts.  
> I would so appreciate it.

I've roasted them in the oven with an X cut into them.. but never
knew it was supposed to be a the pointed end.  I'd recommend that you
NOT roast all three pounds at once, they are much easier to shell
when they are hot.  Start with a small batch and figure out the best
method and how fast you can shell them.

To my mind the best thing would be to just eat them out of the shell
while still hot.

Ranvaig


Date: Fri, 2 Dec 2005 15:14:51 -0800 (PST)
From: Honour Horne-Jaruk <jarukcomp at sbcglobal.net>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: Sca-cooks Digest, Vol 31, Issue 3
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

> Please, share your experiences and insights in
> roasting chestnuts.
>
> Molli Rose
Respected friend:

Chestnuts roasting in the microwave...
Only way to go. Score, time one minute for four
chestnuts and adjust as your power of microwave
requires. I've never found any other method even half
so easy or tasty.

-They're also fun to watch; they spin around as the
steam escapes.

Yours in service to both the Societies of which I am a member-
(Friend) Honour Horne-Jaruk, R.S.F.
Alisond de Brebeuf, C.O.L. S.C.A.- AKA Una the wisewoman, or That Pict


Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2005 12:02:18 -0500
From: "marilyn traber 011221" <phlip at 99main.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Roasting chestnuts
To: Robin Carroll-Mann <rcmann4 at earthlink.net>,	Cooks within the SCA
	<sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

> If I can find some at a decent price, I want to serve some roasted
> chestnuts for an upcoming dayboard.  I've never roasted them before,
> but the instructions for oven-roasting seem fairly straightforward --
>  slash shells, 400 oven, remove when done.  I will probably buy them
> in advance and freeze them.  I have two main questions:
> 1. can I do the slashing the day before, in order to save
> preparation time on the morning of the event?

Yep. Shouldn't be a problem.

> 2. how long after roasting do the chestnuts remain edible?  Will
> they hold well (perhaps in insulated bags, or do they really need to
> be made just before eating?
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Brighid ni Chiarain
> Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom

They tend to hold pretty well- if you roasted them the day before, and served
them for the day board, they'd be fine. Trouble is, they TASTE better hot, on
the order of, bread is good, but freshly baked bread is better. They're also
easier to peel if they're hot, or at least warm.

Phlip


Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2005 12:42:21 -0500
From: "Sharon Gordon" <gordonse at one.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Roasting chestnuts
To: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <rcmann4 at earthlink.net>,	"Cooks within the
	SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

In addition to other posted info, Williams-Sonoma has a chestnut cutter that
makes the slashing much faster and safer to your fingers.  If the link
breaks, search on Chestnutter

http://ww1.williams-sonoma.com//cat/pip.cfm? 
skus=7314909&cat=46&pgid=sku7081235&cmsrc=rel&src=pipgsku7081235|k| 
pxsrd0m1\p15\p0\p\p\p\p\p\pchestnut|s7081235&lid=1&src=pipgsku7081235% 
7Ck%7Cpxsrd0m1%5Cp15%5Cp0%5Cp%5Cp%5Cp%5Cp%5Cp%5Cpchestnut%7Cs7081235

Sharon
gordonse at one.net


Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2005 10:49:52 -0800
From: elisabetta at klotz.org
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: Roasting chestnuts
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

> If I can find some at a decent price, I want to serve some roasted
> chestnuts for an upcoming dayboard.  I've never roasted them before,
> but the instructions for oven-roasting seem fairly straightforward --
> slash shells, 400 oven, remove when done.  I will probably buy them
> in advance and freeze them.  I have two main questions:
> 1. can I do the slashing the day before, in order to save preparation
> time on the morning of the event?
> 2. how long after roasting do the chestnuts remain edible?  Will they
> hold well (perhaps in insulated bags, or do they really need to be
> made just before eating?
>
> Brighid ni Chiarain
> Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom

You can also slash the shells and soak them in water overnight before
roasting.

I have a large (4 qt) and small (1 qt) slow cooker, as well as a chafing dish (2
qt?)and sterno, if you would like to borrow them to keep the chestnuts warm for
dayboard.

Elisabetta


Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2005 10:54:28 -0800 (PST)
From: Carole Smith <renaissancespirit2 at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Roasting chestnuts
To: Robin Carroll-Mann <rcmann4 at earthlink.net>,	Cooks within the SCA
	<sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

One concern with chestnuts is that they burn easily, so it's good to  
keep them moving by shaking the pan frequently when you are roasting  
them.  I believe that's why many suggest you soak them in water first.

   Cordelia


Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2005 22:13:18 -0500
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Roasting chestnuts
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

What an odd little device!
An enclosed Chestnutter that makes a perfect "X" through the outer shell
and inner skin, which then loosen during roasting.

Here are some reasons to use one--
http://www.chestnutter.com/

Better yet are the reasons given here. It reads:
" I can agree completely with this guy from Gizmodo. Chestnut scoring,
preparation, whatever you call it is indeed DANGEROUS. Watch your
fingers, your arteries, you name it - you will be hurt one time or
another. Luckily this little contraption can help you in the kitchen
over the next 2 holidays
<http://www.321gold.com/editorials/benson/benson120903.html> AT LEAST! "
http://www.kitchencontraptions.com/archives/000713.php

Johnnae


Date: Tue, 13 Dec 2005 06:35:45 -0800
From: elisabetta at klotz.org
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: chestnutter [was Roasting chestnuts]
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

> Am Montag, 12. Dezember 2005 18:36 schrieb Susan Fox:
>> Boo hisssssss!  Unitasker!
>>
>> Ok then, what other use would this utensil have, in or out of the  
>> kitchen?

Wow, I'm guessing that you never spent hours "x"ing chestnuts as a  
child and teenager.

It takes a lot of time to "x" chestnuts. You have to be careful, and work
slowly.

They're yummy, but very, very time consuming in the preparation.

I have e-mailed this link to my family, and suspect we will be using  
it next year....

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!


Date: Tue, 13 Dec 2005 15:25:37 -0500
From: Lee Sebastiani <valeriavictrix at mac.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: Chestnutter
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

Bought one--it fell apart the first time I used it. (Of course, a
more expensive quality cutter may work well.) Now I use a small,
stubby paring knife and wear a thick oven mitt on my left hand (in
case of knife slippage).

--Adela de Shea


Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2006 10:49:21 -0500
From: "Daniel  Phelps" <phelpsd at gate.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] chestnut cream
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Aislinn/AEscwynn wrote:
<<< I found a can of chestnut cream imported from France in my local discount
store for fifty cents, so I couldn't pass it up. From the description of
the can, it appears to be almost a syrup. Is there anything medieval I can
use this with/on/in? Are chestnuts new world? >>>

Latin    Castanea dentata (Marsh.) Borkh.
Spanish    Castana
French    Chataigne
German    Kastanie
Swedish    Kastanje
Arabic    Kastana
Dutch    Kastanje
Italian    Castagna
Portuguese    Castanha
Russian    Kashtan
Japanese    Kuri
Chinese    Pan Li

The American chestnut is native to the United States east of the Mississippi
River.  The Chinese chestnut is C. mollissima, the Japanese C. crenata.  The
European C. sativa. is also known as the sweet English chestnut, the Spanish
chestnut and the French chestnut.  The ancient Latin name of the genus,
Castanea is said to have come from Kastanea, a city in Pontus, Asia Minor or
from a town of the same name in Thessaly, Greece, where chestnuts were first
introduced into Europe.  Xenophon, a Greek historian of the fourth century
B.C. state that the children of Persian nobility were fattened on chestnuts.
Dioscorides in the first century A.D. called the chestnut the Sardis nut,
since the best came to Greece from Sardis in Asia Minor.  The Romans took
the chestnut to France and Britain as a flour made from ground chestnuts
provided a staple for the Roman legions.  Tis mentioned in Shakespeare's the
Taming of the Shrew.

All of this from "The Book of Edible Nuts".

Daniel


Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2006 10:52:18 -0500
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius1 at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] chestnut cream
To: hlaislinn at earthlink.net,	Cooks within the SCA
	<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

On Dec 15, 2006, at 9:39 AM, Stephanie Ross wrote:
> I found a can of chestnut cream imported from France in my local discount
> store for fifty cents, so I couldn't pass it up. From the description of
> the can, it appears to be almost a syrup.

Many French products are subject to strict "standards of identity":
chestnuts have to be chestnuts, chestnut paste must be a certain
percentage of chestnuts, and chestnut cream (if anything like the
same deal as for, say, truffles or anchovies) must be a certain,
presumably lower, percentage of chestnuts, if it is to be labeled
that way. Is the stuff actually a liquid? I'm assuming it's more of a
puree sweetened with sugar or a syrup, in which case it sounds pretty
much like Mont Blanc in a can. The standard presentation would be to
pile it attractively high on a platter and cover it with whipped
cream. You could probably also use it to fill little tartlets or
something like that.

> Is there anything medieval I can
> use this with/on/in? Are chestnuts new world?

If it really is a sweetened puree, that probably limits its medieval
applications; the medieval recipes I'm most familiar with for
chestnuts aren't for sweets. Chestnuts are period for Europe and
Asia, though, as far as I know.

Adamantius


Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2007 16:19:04 -0400
From: silverr0se at aol.com
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] 15th C. Ottoman Bulghur w/Chestnuts
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org

>> Chestnuts - Again, i know you and i are working blind, pretty much,
but i'm asking for non-Ottoman food experiences... I could just stir
roasted and peeled chestnuts into the cooked bulghur. But i figure
the chestnuts would be more tender if i simmer them in broth after
peeling them, then stir them into the bulghur. (i may be able to get
packs of peeled chestnuts which will save wear and blistering on my
fingers) Any opinions?<<

Chesnuts do not stay fresh for very long once they are peeled, so I  
would be careful with pre-peeled ones.

When roasting your own, if you throw a kitchen towel soaked in ice- 
water over them the minute they come out of the oven then, when they  
have cooled and you go to peel them, the shell and that nasty  
little skin inside come right off. No blisters.

Renata


Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2007 20:30:38 +0000
From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] 15th C. Ottoman Bulghur w/Chestnuts
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org

Actually, I buy cooked, peeled chestnuts by the bag at local oriental
markets for .99 cents a bag.

Olwen


Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2008 10:19:24 -0400 (GMT-04:00)
From: Christiane <christianetrue at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Chestnuts
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org

Stefan says:
Gianotta asked about chestnuts:
<<< This past Saturday I dragged my mom to the local H&Y food market.  
My main objective was Pocky, but I also picked up a bag of dried  
chestnuts. The intent is to make a Tuscan chestnut and rice soup  
(chopped, sauteed chestnuts, arborio rice, onions, chicken stock, bay  
leaves, salt, pepper). But what are your favorite period entree  
recipes with chestnuts? What are your favorite non-period chestnut  
dishes?

Another question: Can you make chestnut flour from dried chestnuts,  
or are they too hard to run through a food processor?>>>

I looked at what was in the Florilegium; but what I would like to find out from folks is what recipes they have had particular success with and they find particularly yummy. The soup recipe I got out of a book on Tuscan cooking and it looked tasty, but I don't know if it was period (it could have been, but it may not have been the food of the upper classes). I did find an OOP chestnut soup recipe from the Piedmont, published in 1766 according to the reference. I have also found a chestnut and pasta recipe (make a very liquid puree of the chestnuts and cook the pasta in it; seasonings are olive oil and freshly ground pepper).

Dried chestnuts are like dried beans in that they have to be rehydrated by soaking and then boiled to tenderness, I have found out. Then they can be used like roasted fresh ones. I also found some mention that dried chestnuts can me made into flour using a food processor. That's handy to know, because I've found a couple of Asian markets in my area that sell dried chestnuts but getting chestnut flour would entail mail order.

Gianotta


Date: Fri, 5 Jun 2009 10:44:00 -0400
From: Jenn Strobel <jenn.strobel at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] newbee cook attempting feast for the first
	time in
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

A caution about cooking with chestnuts in the form of a short story.

Two years ago, I served Chestnuts at a feast.  In order to peel the
chestnuts, you need to cut an "X" on the bottom and then boil them.
You can peel them pretty easily when they're hot but as they cool,
they become harder and harder to peel.  At one point, nine people were
drafted to peel chestnuts and it did get done.  I think that I thanked
people for a solid hour because when I tested things at home, peeling
two cups of chestnuts didn't take the effort of peeling about 10 cups
of chestnuts cooked in two batches took.

The chestnuts were delicious and everyone loved them, but I would
never again do chestnuts without shelling them well in advance.

Because I have to learn things the hard way so others don't have to :-)

Odriana


Date: Fri, 19 Nov 2010 08:10:19 -0700
From: Susan Lin <susanrlin at gmail.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] glace chestnuts

I have not done any research as to whether they are period but I like
to think that this is a preservation method that might be close.

I did not use a recipe but this is what I did:  I made a simple syrup
of half sugar and half water. Peeled the chestnuts - I think they were
raw but I could be mistaken and they might have been lightly roasted
or boiled. Regardless, I put them and the simple syrup in my small
crockpot, on low. And left them there for 24 hours. Make sure you have
enough syrup to cover them. Then I let them cool, in the pot. Next I
turned the pot back on low for another 24 hours.

My understanding of "glace" is to try to convert the object into a
sweet confection by replacing some of its moisture with the simple
syrup. Think a version of brining.

That is what I did and my mother loved them. And since I made them for
her I was pleased. I'm sure people will now try to correct me and tell
me I'm wrong but again, you asked what I did.

I hope you try it and it works for you. Let me know if you make any
adjustments and how they work out.

Shoshanna

On 11/18/10, Stefan li Rous <stefanlirous at austin.rr.com> wrote:
Last Monday, Susan Lin commented:
<<< I've even used mine to make glace (pardon the missing accent) chesnuts (
a favorite of my mother). >>>

"glace" is a coating? of candy, sugar? or something else?

What is your recipe? I occasionally see chestnuts in the stores here,
usually I think around Yule time. We've talked about roasting them before,
but this might give me something else to try on them.

Thanks,
 Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
  Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas


Date: Fri, 19 Nov 2010 11:58:42 -0500
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] glace chestnuts

On Nov 19, 2010, at 10:10 AM, Susan Lin wrote:
<<< I have not done any research as to whether they are period but I like
to think that this is a preservation method that might be close. >>>

Glace chestnuts are in La Varenne's French Confectioner.
Section X recipe 16 (page 508 in the Scully edition.)

Johnnae


Date: Sun, 21 Nov 2010 17:23:22 -0800
From: David Walddon <david at vastrepast.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] glace chestnuts

I was intrigued so I went to La Varenne (Scully's edition) and found a few other "candied" chestnut recipes. 
I also have several pounds of chestnuts and am going to try out some of the recipes. I will post here or to my blog (with pictures) once I start in on the recipes. 

Does anyone have the French for the below. I would like to have it. 

Also does anyone have any other candied chestnut recipes from period (or close to - given the 1650 or 1600 date issues). 

Here are the ones that I have found in La Varenne.

The compote sounds interesting - Two issues Apricot syrup (made the way it says to do) is not going to happen at this time of year and what kind of Spanish Wine? 
The first recipe for Limousin Chestnuts is very straightforward. The next one, "Another way", is not going to happen for me because I am allergic to raw egg white. 

Eduardo 
----

In the confections section of the French Cook (Scully pg 372) recipe number 61 and 62 

61. Limousin Chestnuts 
Cook chestnuts normally. When they are done, peel them as you do flatten them a little between your hands; set them out on a plate. Get some water, some sugar and the juice of a lemon or some orange blossom water and make a syrup of them. When it is made, pour it boiling on your chestnuts. You can serve them hot or cold. 

62. Another way 
If you wish to blanch them, get an egg white and some orange blossom water and beat them together; soak your chestnuts in that. Then put them in a dish with some powdered sugar and roll them in it so they get covered with it; then dry them by the fire. 

Then in the French Confectioner Bk X Unusual Confections (Scully pg 506) recipe 7 
7. Chestnut Compote 
Roast some chestnuts on the coals, shell them and flatten them, then put them into a silver dish with some apricot syrup, or some other sort of syrup, and a little Spanish wine; boil them. When you want to serve them, put a plate on top and tip them over on it like a cheese. 

Apricot syrup recipe included in the French Confectioner: Bk V Refreshing Syrups 
4. Apricot Syrup 
Get very ripe apricots, peel them and remove their pits. Put ver clean little sticks on the bottom of a basin, arrange a layer of apricots on the sicks, then a layer of powdered sugar, and repeat until you have as much as you want to make of it; cover them over and put them in a cellar for a night. If you want to keep the syrup that has fallen into the basin, draw it off and boil it until it has cooked to the pearl stage. You can use the apricots to make tourtes o marmalades. 

And finally in The French Confectioner: Bk XI Moist Confections recipe 16 

16. Glace Chestnuts 
Make a glazing of some orange-blossom water and some sugar, as is directed for Glace Marzipan. Cook some chestnuts on the coals, shell them, flatten them, glaze them on one side and cook them with the upper part of the oven, then turn them over on their other side, glaze them and cook them the same way. 
Glace Brignol plums, cherries and peaches are done the same way as the chestnuts. 

The orange blossom water is included in the French Confectioner: Bk XVI Marzipan recipe 4 
4. Glace Marzipan 
Take some plain marzipan paste and make it up into rings or whatever shape you want. Then make a glazing with some orange-blossom water and some powdered sugar: get some orange-blossom water, put some sugar into it and mix the well together until this glazing is slightly thick, Dip one side of your marzipan into it, put some paper and bake it with a moderate heat applied to the top of the oven. When it has baked, let it cool, then dip the unglazed side (into the glazing) and bake it as before. 
________________________________________________________

Food is life. May the plenty that graces your table truly be a VAST REPAST. 

David Walddon
david at vastrepast.com
www.vastrepast.net


Date: Mon, 22 Nov 2010 05:11:23 -0500
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] glace chestnuts

I have the Bibliotheque Bleue edition from the 1980's.
The French Cook: Le Cuisinier fran?ois (London 1653) Introduction by  
Philip and Mary Hyman, 1983 (Montalba: Biblioth?que Bleue)
It's in it.

Le Confiturier francois should be up and able to be viewed at the  
Bibliotheque Nationale.
The search keeps getting bumped out this am.
Maybe we can find it there later.

Wikipedia says
Gallica Project French National Library: "Le Cuisinier fran?ois" (e- 
book)
Universitat de Barcelona: Le Cuisinier fran?ois (e-book)

So it should be part of the Grewe collection also, providing it's a  
full edition and contains the pastry and confectionery recipes as well  
as the cookery.

Johnnae

On Nov 21, 2010, at 8:23 PM, David Walddon wrote:
<<< Does anyone have the French for the below. I would like to have it. >>>


From: Tim McDaniel <tmcd at panix.com>
Date: December 30, 2010 11:55:48 PM CST
To: Barony of Bryn Gwlad <bryn-gwlad at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Bryn-gwlad] Chestnuts

On Thu, 30 Dec 2010, Stefan li Rous <StefanliRous at austin.rr.com> wrote:
And for those who remember chestnuts from growing up elsewhere, or
from tasting them at the Hell's Gate Yule Revel:
chestnuts-msg (49K) 12/17/10 Medieval harvesting and use of chestnuts. Roasting. Recipes.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD/chestnuts-msg.html

Here are my results of Googling and my experimentation for how to cook
those chestnuts.

SELECTION

A few pages suggested buying only nuts that fill the shell.  That is,
you can't press in on the shell and feel it buckle (except slightly)
into an air pocket between the nut and the shell.  If it does buckle,
it's probably because the nut got mold, or shriveled in the shell, or
is otherwise bad.

Most of the ones I got had a flat side and a rounded side, but some
had two flat sides (and two short rounded sides) and a few were
rounded overall.  All were successful.

WASHING

I was advised to wash the nuts.  They looked completely clean, but I
took a scrub brush to each under running anyway.  So that's maybe 5
minutes for a small pan full (30 or so).

CUTTING

Different people say to score the nuts in different ways.  The most
common suggestion was to cut an X in a rounded side, though other
people say to cut thru the cap, or the base, or just one cut, or
whatever.  If you don't cut, there's a chance the shell will explode,
causing nutty shrapnel.  Even if an oven door is closed, buts of nut
could hit the heating elements or whatever, I supposed.

The nuts are wet, the shells are hard, and you're taking a knife to a
rounded side.  Can you say "crazy safety hazard"?  I found advice that
worked: lay out a dish towel or whatever, put the nuts on it, then
grasp each firmly while cutting with a serrated blade.  About 10-15
minutes and I was sweating a bit at the end.

There's a tool you can buy to do an X cut in one operation.  The
advice I saw was not to bother unless you're doing a crazy number.
Also, one Florilegium note said that their tool broke the first time.

Oh, and be brutal about sawing deep.  If the meat gets cut, who cares?
I figure, better to be too deep than not cut enough.

COOKING

No great consistency on how long to cook them: I've seen everything
from 350 F for 15 minutes to 375 F for 45 (!) minutes, and let stand
for 0-15 minutes.  Some suggest parboiling first or soaking them.  One
source said that they, like popcorn are pretty sensitive to duration.
I've just now found pages giving an actual *goal* for this: to soften
the nuts.

What I did was no soaking, parboiling, or prep, just 425 Fahrenheit
for 20 minutes.  That may well be too hot and long.  Next time I'll
try lower and shorter.

PEELING

The outer shells are part of the problem.  More annoying is a fuzzy
layer bettween the outside of the nut and the inside of the shell --
annoying because it can be hard to remove.

The first batches, I shelled when they were cold.  REALLY bad idea.
The shells and layers stuck, so each nut took forever, and I ended up
paper-cutting my fingers and bleeding a bit on nuts.

Also, cold chestnuts taste OK, but I think they're much much better
when hot.

Eventually I followed other instructions: dump them out of the pan
into a dishtowel or whatever, wrap them up, and (using the towel as a
shield from heat and shards) crush the shells with my hands.  I could
be really brutal with this: the chestnut meats are pretty resilient,
unlike the shells.  And at least this step is quick.

Then I shelled them immediately.  Then the shells and fuzzy layer
usually came off immediately, often in one or two pieces.  If they
didn't, it was usually because there was something wrong with the meat
(moldy, or too hard -- because they were overcooked or undercooked?).
If a nut meat is resistant, quickly look for mold and test the
hardness with a fingernail, and if there's a problem, abandon it
immediately and move on.  The detriment: the third-most sensitive part
of my anatomy is handling hot chestnuts, and I'm rushing to try to get
done before they get cold.  Oh joy.

I found little knives (the ones I used to cut them) would help with
some: I hold the handle and scrape at fuzz or shell with the tip.

Then I invariably ended up, one way or another, accidentally dumping
the contents of the towel all over the floor, scattering scads of
shell bits and fuzz all over.

I need to work on the timing (how DO the NYC chestnut vendors do it?).
If I do a big batch, the first ones are cold by the time I serve them.
If I do a small batch, what's the point of all the time for a small
payoff?  I'm thinking a decent batch, and shell them and serve them
forth in groups.

RESULT

In my batches, maybe 25 nuts that took the better part of an hour all
told to process.  Eaten in minutes.

EVALUATION

Too much work for too little payoff, except as an educational project
or a curiosity.

Danihel Lincolia
-- 
Tim McDaniel, tmcd at panix.com


From: Mary Temple <noxcat at gmail.com>
Date: December 31, 2010 10:48:48 AM CST
To: Barony of Bryn Gwlad <bryn-gwlad at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Bryn-gwlad] Chestnuts

My method for chestnuts - used for years. 

!1) Score FLAT side with an X.
2) Drop in warm bowl of tap water for 5 minutes.
3) Microwave in high for about a minute. (I do 4 or 5 at a time) More will require more time.
4) Peel and eat as soon as they cool enough to touch.

Yum.

Mary/Katerine


From the fb "SCA Cooks" group:

Ken Wilson
10/4/18
Anyone have any period recipes for chestnuts?

Sosha R. Ruark 
I believe there is one in Take a Thousand Eggs for a chestnut pie.

Michelle Enzinas 
Henry Butte's says to roast them and then dip them in sugar while still hot. It's really good.

James Prescott 
Scappi, Rumpolt, Eberhard, de Casteau, Eenen Nyeuwen Coock Boeck, Viandier, de Nola, Martino, Transylvanian, and undoubtedly others.

Urtatim Al-Qurtubiyya	
10:40pm Oct 4

From the 1594 Persian cookbook, Maddat al-hayat, my translation from Prof. Bert G. Fragner's German
4. qobūlī-ye murassa‘ (jeweled qobūlī)

This is a dish which is charged as an essential component of imperial festivals/feast days. Best, tender meat is shredded. After it has been fully cooked, leave to stand in very little liquid (ba‘d az pohtan tonok-āb namūdā). Then heat it in meat (broth) with fat or [crushed] adipose backside of the sheep (i.e., sheep tail fat) (donbā) and pour on a little clear meat broth (šurbā), called in gastronomic jargon as "šarbat", add onion rings in sufficient quantity and sprinkle a lot of spice into it. Then put in the container on one side a heap of fine, fried noodles, on the other side, fried small and large meat-filled dumplings (qūš-deli and ğūš-bārā) [my note: see also recipe 32, qūšdelī-polāw], so that between these two ingredients in each case a space remains free. Then carefully put — into each of its own — dates, figs, barberry, green raisins, almonds, chestnuts, cooked chickpeas, lentils and small meatballs, pour a little meat broth and let it all boil. Then let rice cook [gently] in another vessel in the [remaining] broth, then strain through a white napkin (dastmāl-e dostār) and pour it over the ingredients [contained in the pot]. After an hour, again add melted fat, and of that a mann (37) of fat to two mann of rice. If the dish is done, carry on and serve it. It should not remain liquid, but also not burn. Each would be regarded as a gastronomic offense. The dish also has its applied difficulties and requires attention: The individual ingredients must come to lie on the rice, as if designed by an artist; sweet and mealy/floury morsels must not lie side by side/next to each other. Fill large meat balls each with an egg cooked in meat stock and also cook them separately. Then cut in half and arrange on the dish in such a way that they show the inside of the eggs [i.e., nargisi kofte]. Furthermore, garnish with boiled/cooked walnuts. Some masters fill a small bowl with āš (porridge soup) — whether mealy or not (āš-e ārd yā ġeyr-e ārd) — from the soup pot and put this in the middle of the vessel with the aforementioned rice dish into it when serving. All of this ultimately depends on the expertise of each master (chef). The skill of the cook's art, however, is in first place deftness, skill(fulness), sensitivity, and [the ability] to prepare deliciously. [Some] masters (chefs) have overdrawn the bow, regarding arranging and serving dishes, saying: Cook quietly badly, The main thing, you focus on pleasing [your master]!

37. See Note 35.

35. Since the 16th century a mesqāl in Iran was an average of 4.6 grams. As an additional unit of weight Nūrollāh used the mann, which he specified explicitly at one point as mann-e tabrīzī. This is about three kilos (Walther Hinz, Islamic Weights and Measures, HdO/BTE Supplement 1 Leiden, 1955, p. 6)


	
Urtatim Al-Qurtubiyya	
12:44am Oct 5

Same source as above:
5. "decorated polāw" (morassa‘-polāw), called molamma‘-polāw (Glittering polāw)

There is another kind of "decorated polāw" (morassa‘-polāw), which is called molamma‘-polāw (Glittering polāw) It is made: cut chicken meat into small pieces. After boiling [the chicken broth], add the rice. Once the rice is half-cooked, put green raisins, pistachios and almonds, dates, figs, chestnuts, barberry and chickpeas in large quantity under/into the rice. Put the whole thing on the fire, as is customary with other dishes, and steam the rice. Each ingredient mentioned has its particular arrangement; especially the dates should be added only after the straining of the rice, so that they are not overcooked to mush (tā lītī našavad).

-----
I have cooked this one and taught it

	
Urtatim Al-Qurtubiyya	
5:37pm Oct 5

From the 13 c Fadalat al-khiwan fi tayibat al-ta'am wa al alwan by Ibn Razin al-Tujibi
translated by me

Section 3, Chapter 2: On the meat of chicken
43. Another Dish
Take of chicken and of plump capons that which is desired and proceed in the same way as before, in order to clean it and cut it up. Put the meat into a pot new and large, put on the meat water, salt, plenty of oil, pepper, coriander seeds, a little chopped onion, peeled almonds, pine nuts, fresh acorns, fresh chestnuts, and decorticated walnuts, and carry the pot on the fire to cook.

Then take eggs, at a rate of thirty eggs for one chicken, add there some salt after having broken them, pepper, ginger, cinnamon, spikenard, cloves, saffron in moderation, then beat carefully the eggs with a ladle after after having removed around ten yolks in order to to mix well and incorporate the spices into the eggs. Then check the flesh of the chickens, if you find that it is cooked, pour it into another terrine/ bowl. Then take a large tinned frying pan, Carry it on the fire, put therein oil and clear broth. Then arrange it, pour therein a little of the eggs, arrange the meat in the frying pan and cover it with eggs in sufficient quantity in order to fill the frying pan. Then carry the frying pan on the fire. When the eggs begin to set, take a knife and separate the pieces of meat the ones from the others with the eggs which enrobe them. Then turn them over in the frying pan with precaution and fry them until they are golden and well fried. Pay attention that they do not burn. When all the pieces are fried, remove them, arrange them in a large dish, put thereon the rest of the farce after having bound it while frying it and put back into the frying pan that which remains of the meat and of the eggs until used up, if God wills it.

Then fry the egg yolks. If desired to take the livers, to crush them, and make of them Isfîrîya (garnish) as described previously, do so as well as some meatballs and decorate the dish after having arranged the meat with the egg yolks, Isfîrîya, the cut hard-cooked egg yolks, and the meatballs, add the rest of the fat, powder/dust with the spices which you like.

The almonds, pine nuts, walnuts, acorns, chestnuts are mixed with the eggs when they are put into the frying pan. There are people who put into this farce some dry cheese. And consume in peace/ y que aproveche/ and take advantage of it, if God the Most High wills it.


Urtatim Al-Qurtubiyya	
5:48pm Oct 5
Again from the 13th c Fadalat al-Khiwan
My translation

48. Another Eastern Dish
Take the breast of a chicken, crush it carefully, and make of it some meatballs of the way described previously in adding to the meat cilantro/ coriander leaf juice, reserve into a terrine/ bowl separately.

Then take fresh chestnuts if it is possible, if the are not fresh boil them in order to cook them. Then take a small pot, put therein water, salt, coriander seeds, pepper, juice of onion, cilantro/ coriander leaf juice, and oil and carry it on the fire. When it boils, put there the meatballs and let them cook. Then take the chestnuts, crush them and put them with the meatballs. Then put into the small pot a little of vinegar and bind it with eggs as described previously concerning liaisons. When the dish becomes tepid, and take advantage of it, if God the Most High wills it.

Urtatim Al-Qurtubiyya	
5:52pm Oct 5
My translation from the Fadalat al-Khiwan are still rough. I think i've translated those recipes properly, but i haven't smoothed out the English

	
Urtatim Al-Qurtubiyya
6:58pm Oct 5

Additionally the extant menus for the meals of Sultan Mehmet II, known as The Conquerer, for one month in 1469 indicate he had bulgar with chestnuts for breakfast several times. I have created a reconstruction because there is no extant recipe from the 15th or 16th centuries, but i don't know if you would be interested in that.

Urtatim Al-Qurtubiyya 
Chestnuts are used in several recipes in both 13th c. Andalusian cookbooks.

From the Fadalat al-Khiwan Section on Chicken, my translation:

43. Another Dish
Take of chicken and of plump capons that which is desired and proceed in the same way as before, in order to clean it and cut it up. Put the meat into a pot new and large, put on the meat water, salt, plenty of oil, pepper, coriander seeds, a little chopped onion, peeled almonds, pine nuts, fresh acorns, fresh chestnuts, and decorticated walnuts, and carry the pot on the fire to cook.

Then take eggs, at a rate of thirty eggs for one chicken, add there some salt after having broken them, pepper, ginger, cinnamon, spikenard, cloves, saffron in moderation, then beat carefully the eggs with a ladle after after having removed around ten yolks in order to to mix well and incorporate the spices into the eggs. Then check the flesh of the chickens, if you find that it is cooked, pour it into another terrine/ bowl. Then take a large tinned frying pan, Carry it on the fire, put therein oil and clear broth. Then arrange it, pour therein a little of the eggs, arrange the meat in the frying pan and cover it with eggs in sufficient quantity in order to fill the frying pan. Then carry the frying pan on the fire. When the eggs begin to set, take a knife and separate the pieces of meat the ones from the others with the eggs which enrobe them. Then turn them over in the frying pan with precaution and fry them until they are golden and well fried. Pay attention that they do not burn. When all the pieces are fried, remove them, arrange them in a large dish, put thereon the rest of the farce after having bound it while frying it and put back into the frying pan that which remains of the meat and of the eggs until used up, if God wills it.

Then fry the egg yolks. If desired to take the livers, to crush them, and make of them Isfîrîya (garnish) as described previously, do so as well as some meatballs and decorate the dish after having arranged the meat with the egg yolks, Isfîrîya, the cut hard-cooked egg yolks, and the meatballs, add the rest of the fat, powder/dust with the spices which you like.

The almonds, pine nuts, walnuts, acorns, chestnuts are mixed with the eggs when they are put into the frying pan. There are people who put into this farce some dry cheese. And take advantage of it, if God the Most High wills it.

Potter DeePotter:
this is a pretty amazing website
https://coquinaria.nl/en/roman-chestnuts/

Urtatim Al-Qurtubiyya 
From the 13th c. anonymous Andalusian cookbook, translated by Charles Perry. Meat is generally lamb:

74. Preparation of Chestnut Qaliyya
Take a piece of meat and cut it. Put it in the pot and add in salt, pepper, coriander seed, pounded onion and clarified butter. Fry it gently and put in the same amount each of vinegar and murri and some pepper and saffron. Take chestnuts and clean them, pound them well and stir them with water. Put enough of the broth of it to cover the meat. When it has cooked, beat for it three eggs with pepper and chopped cilantro[*]. Put it on the coals and when it has settled, pour it out, present it and eat it, if God wills.

[*] Probably the eggs are used to cover the contents of the pot, though the recipe says nothing of their fate. (CP)

Urtatim Al-Qurtubiyya 
There's a recipe for another lamb with chestnuts, but half of it is missing (damaged page): It says to cook the meat... a number of lines missing ...and put it on a platter. So not reconstructable. The recipes in the Fadalat with chestnuts are only for chicken.

Johnna Holloway 
CHestnuts eaten with Honnye fasting, doo helpe a man of the Cough. John Partridge. The widowes treasure 1588.

Potter Dee
"Honnye fasting" just brings up a bunch of woo sites, can you clarify that?

Johnna Holloway 
It's just a sentence which appears therein. Partridge includes a number of remedies and cures.

Urtatim Al-Qurtubiyya 
It seems simple to me. If someone has a cough, eating chestnuts with honey while they are fasting, which can mean well before or between meals, should help. I don't know if the chestnuts should be roasted or boiled before peeling.

Johnna Holloway 
This is repeated advice. 
John Gerarde writes "An Electuarie of the meale of Chestnuts and hony is very good against the cough and spitting of bloud."

Here are the virtues Chestnuts.

CHestnuts are best kept and preserued amongst Wallnuts, eate them fasting with hony for the cough. 2 Flux to stop, boyle the middle red barke in water to the third part and drinke thereof. 3 Chestnuts of all wilde fruites are the best and meetest to be eaten, for they nourish reasonably well, but they be hard of digestion, and doe stop the belly: with the meale of Chest∣nuts and hony, is made a good electuarie against the cough & spet∣ting of blood. 4 The powder thereof with barly meale and vi∣neger applyed, doeth cure vnnaturall blastings and swellings of the breasts. 5 The polished red barke boyled and drunke doeth stop the laske, the bloody flixe and all other flixes and issues of 

blood. 6 Chestnuts make fat, stop flixes, and harden the milt. 7 Stamp them with hony and salt and apply it to the biting of a mad dog to heale it. 8 They cause lust, and offend the head and milt. 9 Prick through the husks with a knife and rosted and eaten with hony fasting, they are good for the cough, but their chiefe force is in binding & stopping flixes. 10 Acorns are much like in operation. Langham, William. The garden of health conteyning the sundry rare and hidden vertues and properties of all kindes of simples and plants, together with the maner how they are to be vsed and applyed in medicine for the health of mans body, against diuers diseases and infirmities most common amongst men. Gathered by the long experience and industrie of William Langham, practitioner in phisicke. London, 1597

Johnna Holloway 
To make Tartes of Chestnuts.
Séeth the Chestnuts and stampe and straine them with milke, adding all the other compositions for the Tarts aforesaid, and make it yellow with Saffron. The Epulario. 1598.

Eden Rain 
I'm away from my library at this moment, but I bet Castelvetro mentions them too

James Prescott 
Epulario "Tartes of Chestnuts"

Ouverture "Mutton hotchpotch", "roast in hot cinders", "To make a potpourri called in Spanish Olla podrida", "Boiled stuffed capon", "Otherwise [Duck] [165]"…See More

Johnna Holloway 
To roast a Capon with Oysters, and Chestnuts appears in Murrell's Two Books.

James Prescott 
Scappi has about eight recipes.

James Prescott 
Curye on Inglysch has three recipes.

Johnna Holloway 
Butts' Dyets dry dinner in 1599 says: 
Chestnuts.

Choise.
BIgge: which by being kept, are growne more toothsome, and lesse vnholsome.
Vse.

Being flatulent incite Venus yéeld strong and very good nourishment, step flures taken with sugar, abate choller, with honey, fleame, wrought with honey and sugar, cure the biting of mad dogs.
Hurt.

Eaten much cause headach and winde: binde: and rawe are hart of digestion.
Correction.

Toast or roast them, then eat them moderately with a good deale of sugar.
Degree. Season. Age. Constitu∣tion.
Hot in the beginning of the second, drie in the second.
In cold weather, for any.



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Edited by Mark S. Harris	chestnuts-msg	Page 2 of 29