We just ordered some Italian Marroni style chestnuts from Correia Chestnut Farm. We've had them in the past and we've been very pleased. They're almost identical to the chestnuts we enjoy in Spain. Can't wait to start roasting them!
Check out my posts on chestnuts to see different ways Spaniards enjoy chestnuts.
Tomorrow, November 11, is the magosto, a festival in which roasted chestnuts play a major part (see my recent post about how the magosto is celebrated) so it seems appropriate that the second entry in this series, "Ten Spanish Ways to Enjoy the Holidays," should be chestnuts.
Roasted chestnuts are not just a holiday food in Spain. They're enjoyed throughout late autumn and winter in much of the country. And, yes, they are roasted over open fires (though many Spaniards roast them at home in the oven, too). American that I am (and a big Nat King Cole fan to boot) I always associate roasted chestnuts with Christmas.
Roasting chestnuts is one of my favorite Spanish ways to enjoy the holidays. See my post on roasting chestnuts (castañas asadas) for more information.
Nearly everyone knows about Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, but have you heard about the magosto? The magosto is a fall celebration that involves roasting chestnuts and chorizos over open fires. It's an extremely important holiday in Galicia, especially in Orense, where Ana and her family are from.
The magosto is always on November 11, the day of San Martín, the patron saint of Orense. The tradition is to go up into the mountains just outside of town, build bonfires, and roast chestnuts and chorizo, which are served with a young red wine. Roasted potatoes and empananas are also typical.
Want to try throwing your own magosto party? First, start with good chestnuts. We've been very pleased with the Italian Marroni-type chestnuts sold by Correia Chestnut farm. They taste exactly like the chestnuts we enjoy in Spain. (Most of the American hybrids don't). See my post on roasting chestnuts for information on how to prepare chestnuts.
Next, you'll need chorizo. La Tienda carries a high-quality cooking chorizo. They're perfect for grilling.
The best young red wine? A Bierzo, which is right next door to Galicia, and also very serious about the magosto. See my post on Bierzo wine for more information.
If you want to go all out, make some Galician-style empanadas. See my recipes for empanadas.
The perfect ending to a magosto celebration would be a queimada--a flaming Galician punch.
You don't have to celebrate the magosto to enjoy chestnuts the Spanish way. In fall castañeras (the ladies who run the chestnut stands) roast chestnuts over open fires on street corners all over the country.
One of the great pleasures of being in Spain in the fall and winter is eating hot roasted chestnuts from the castañera on a chilly day. The chestnuts are usually served in a piece of folded newspaper. They keep your hands warm as you walk and eat. Their flavor is earthy and slightly sweet. There is really nothing like them.
See my other chestnut recipes to learn about other things you can do with chestnuts. You can coat them with chocolate:
Or make them into a cake:
Ana's cousin Mary Carmen sent us this recipe for Spanish chestnut cake. We tried it the other day and loved it.
It's really closer to a sweet frittata than what we usually think of as cake. Like many Spanish desserts, its appeal has less to do with sweetness or richness than a bold contrast of flavors--dark chocolate, lemon zest, earthy chestnuts--and an unusual texture--firm and somewhat dense, like the chestnut itself.
This cake is more than enough for four people.
Here's the recipe.
Ingredients:
--About three quarters of a cup of chestnuts. We ordered ours from Correia Chestnut Farm and were very pleased.
--2 tablespoons of flour
--the grated zest of 1 lemon
--3 or 4 tablespoons of sugar
--3 large eggs
--1 teaspoon of yeast (We've found that we prefer this without the yeast).
a little olive oil
5 or 6 squares of good dark chocolate
a dash of milk
First prepare the chestnuts. Score them. I explain how to do this in my post on roasted chestnuts.
Put them in a saucepan with enough water to cover them. Bring them to a boil. Turn the heat down and let them simmer for 30 minutes. Drain, rinse, and when they're just cool enough to handle, peel them.
Chop the chestnuts. You want them fine, but not a paste.
Beat together the eggs and sugar. Add the chopped chestnuts, a dash of olive oil, the flour, the yeast, and the lemon zest. Stir well.
Rub a 9 1/2 inch non-stick cake pan with olive oil. Pour in the batter. Bake in a 375 degree oven, for 20-25 minutes. To check for doneness, insert a toothpick into the cake. It should come out dry.
Carefully loosen the cake from the pan with a spatula. Turn it out onto a plate.
To make the chocolate sauce, just heat the chocolate squares in a small saucepan with a dash of milk. Stir the chocolate and milk together as it melts. Be careful not to let the chocolate scorch. Or you can melt the chocolate in the microwave.
Slice the cake into wedges. Drizzle or spread melted chocolate onto each slice before serving.
Chestnuts are tremendously important in Galicia, the region in Northwestern Spain, a land of vast chestnut forests. Every November Galicians celebrate the magosto, the chestnut festival, where chestnuts are roasted on open fires everywhere.
When Ana was growing up in the Galician town of Orense, she often stopped by the penny candy shop after school. Her favorite was the chocolate covered chestnut. Since we have some excellent marroni chestnuts from Correia Chestnut Farm (see my recent post on roasting chestnuts), I decided to make some--and they're really good.
Here's the recipe:
Ingredients
However many chestnuts you want
enough good chocolate to cover them (I used 70% dark chocolate, but you could use something sweeter if you prefer).
A little olive oil.
Score the chestnuts with a sharp knife. You want to cut an X on the shell. I explain how to do this in my post on roasting chestnuts.
Next, simmer the chestnuts for 30 minutes, in just enough water to cover them.
Drain and rinse the chestnuts. When cool enough to handle, peel them. Be gentle or the chestnuts will fall apart.
Now rig up a double boiler. This is easy. Just heat up some water in a small pot. Bring it to a very slow simmer. Find a metal bowl you can place on top of the pot. It should rest on top, not fall in the pot. The bottom of the bowl should not touch the water. You want the steam to rise up from the simmering water to heat the bowl gently.
Now place the chocolate in the bowl.
Make sure the water is at a slow simmer (you don't want it to boil) and not touching the bottom of the bowl. The chocolate with slowly melt. Stir it a little to help it along.
Place a sheet of parchment or waxed paper on a plate or pan. Rub the paper down with a little olive oil.
When the chocolate is melted, roll the chestnuts in it one by one, and place them on the oiled parchment.
Refrigerate until the chocolate turns solid, and they're ready to eat.
Roasted chestnuts are street food in Spain. In late fall and winter, chestnut sellers, or castañeras, roast chestnuts over coals on streetcorners all over Spain. For a few euros, the castañera will give you a newspaper cone filled with hot chestnuts. The chestnuts are so hot they'll keep your hands warm even when it's quite cold out. Whenever we're in Spain for Christmas or for Reyes I eat roasted chestnuts every chance I get.
For a years I had a hard time finding good chestnuts in the U.S. I tried the Italian chestnuts sold in better supermarkets, but these were often less than fresh. (It's more difficult to store chestnuts than most other nuts). I've also tried locally grown chestnuts, but these are hybrids with the Chinese Chestnut, which is resistant to chestnut blight. They have a different taste than Spanish chestnuts.
This year we ordered some Marroni-type chestnuts grown at Correia Chestnut Farm in California and we're very pleased. They taste exactly like the best ones we've had in Spain.
If you've never tried a chestnut, keep this in mind: they're not like other nuts. Nutrition-wise, they're closer to wheat than nuts. They're high in carbs, low in fat. So when you bite into one, don't expect the experience to be like eating toasted almonds or walnuts. It's more like eating an especially flavorful roasted potato--though still different, both in taste and texture.
To roast chestnuts, first you want to score the shells. This can be dangerous business. Correia farms and other sites sell special chestnut knives. I've never used them. Here's what I do. I place the chestnut on a cutting board, and I gently cut into them with a very sharp knife. I keep my hands well away from the edge.
This way it's all but impossible to cut myself. You do want to be careful not to press the blade down too forcefully, or you'll cut the chestnut clean in half. You don't want to do that. The goal is to score the shells.
Now put the chestnuts on a pizza pan. The kind with holes in it is best. Put them in a 425 degree oven. A kamado oven (Big Green Egg) is even better if you have one.
Roast the chestnuts for 20-25 minutes. Keep an eye on them. Ovens vary, as do chestnuts.
Remove them from the oven. Wrapping them in a towel for a few minutes seems to make them easier to peel. Eat them while they're hot! They're great with a glass of red wine.
