Chestnut Season

Grape harvest. Olive harvest. I knew that autumn in Chianti held these two iconic experiences but I was not prepared for the arrival of the chestnut!

Somehow I’d had forgotten the place chestnuts hold in Italian culture. Didn’t I remember the bowls of chestnuts that regularly appeared on Grandma’s table when the temperature began to drop? What a delightful surprise it was to rekindle a taste for this autumn treat.

I was wandering through a Sunday specialty market featuring local and artisanal foods when I spotted a young guy in a plaid shirt and jeans tending a charcoal fire. Spread over the hot coals were dozens of the richly colored, shiny nuts marked with the clasic x or just slashed open (to allow the steam to escape). For just E3 my hands were soon warmed by a crinkly white paper bag filled with a dozen or so of the just roasted chestnuts. I eagerly peeled back the corners of the popped shell for my first taste of this dense, nutty delicacy. Mmm. I had forgotten its unique sweet but earthy flavor.

What could be better? Oh, that would be a peeled chestnut coated in rich chocolate! I couldn’t resist and bought one of those too for E1!

Now chestnuts are everywhere - in the weekly market and in the window of the village fruit and vegetable store. You might not know that they hide inside this prickly, spiky outer husk. It must have been a brave person who first dared to dig beyond the foreboding exterior to discover the treasure inside!

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An American Mourning

Jill Viggiano