Editing Chestnut (section)

==== Europe and the Near East ====
It has been a staple food in southern Europe, Turkey, and southwestern and eastern Asia<ref name=chestnutbrook/><ref name=history>[http://www.hesge.ch/eil/Pages/AG/actualites/doc/Chataigner/TexteConedera2.pdf ''The cultivation of Castanea sativa (Mill.) in Europe, from its origin to its diffusion on a continental scale''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080910104813/http://www.hesge.ch/eil/Pages/AG/actualites/doc/Chataigner/TexteConedera2.pdf |date=September 10, 2008 }}. By M. Conedera, P. Krebs, W. Tinner, M. Pradella and D. Torriani. Veget Hist Archaeobot (2004) 13:161–179. {{doi|10.1007/s00334-004-0038-7}}. This multidisciplinary study reconstructs the origin of chestnut cultivation and its spread throughout Europe in prehistoric times.</ref> for millennia, largely replacing cereals where these would not grow well, if at all, in mountainous Mediterranean areas.<ref name=Jalut>, Guy (1976). [http://www.cambridge.org/us/books/kiple/chestnuts.htm ''Les débuts de l'agriculture en France: Les défrichements'']. In ''La Préhistoire Française'', Vol. 2: 180–5. Paris. Cited in ''The Cambridge World History of Food'' – Chestnuts, edited by Kenneth F. Kipple and Kriemhild Connee Ornelas.</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Stefano Mazzoleni |title=Recent Dynamics of the Mediterranean Vegetation and Landscape |page=145 |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |date=2004 |isbn=9780470093702 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s88vzd9PwkkC |quote=In the coastal areas, the olive groves are tightly interwoven with low maquis, garrigue and steppe, which have been widely grazed and, consequently, burned. On the other hand, low mountains and inland hills have chestnut and mixed deciduous coppiced woods. The actual boundaries between these two different vegetation landscapes can be found at different altitudes according to local climatic conditions; higher (about 1000m asl) in the eastern and southern areas, and lower and close to the sea in the central and northern basin.}}</ref> Evidence of its cultivation by humans is found since around 2000 BC.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Conedera |first1=M. |last2=Krebs |first2=P. |last3=Tinner |first3=W. |last4=Pradella |first4=M. |last5=Torriani |first5=D. |date=August 2004 |url=http://www.botany.unibe.ch/paleo/publications/reprints/VegetHistArchaeobot_13_161.pdf |title=The cultivation of Castanea sativa (Mill.) in Europe, from its origin to its diffusion on a continental scale |journal=Vegetation History and Archaeobotany |volume=13 |issue=3 |pages=161–179 |access-date=2012-09-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304080146/http://www.botany.unibe.ch/paleo/publications/reprints/VegetHistArchaeobot_13_161.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-04 |via=Institute of Plant Sciences - [[University of Bern]] |doi=10.1007/s00334-004-0038-7 }}</ref> [[Alexander the Great]] and the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] planted chestnut trees across Europe while on their various campaigns. A [[Ten Thousand (Greek)|Greek army]] is said to have survived their retreat from Asia Minor in 401–399 BC thanks to their stores of chestnuts.<ref name=peggy>[http://homecooking.about.com/od/foodhistory/a/chestnuthistory.htm Chestnut History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211182807/http://homecooking.about.com/od/foodhistory/a/chestnuthistory.htm |date=2009-02-11 }} by Peggy Trowbridge Filippone. For Cooking resources, Food history, in About.com.</ref> Ancient Greeks, such as Dioscorides and Galen, wrote of chestnuts to comment on their medicinal properties—and of the flatulence induced by eating too much of it.<ref name="Chestnuts"/> To the early Christians, chestnuts symbolized [[chastity]].<ref name=veg/> Until the introduction of the [[potato]], whole forest-dwelling communities which had scarce access to [[wheat]] flour relied on chestnuts as their main source of [[carbohydrate]]s.<ref name=chestnutbrook/> In some parts of Italy, a cake made of chestnuts is used as a substitute for potatoes.<ref name=grocer/> In 1583, Charles Estienne and Jean Liébault wrote, "an infinity of people live on nothing else but (the chestnut)".<ref name=estienne>Charles Estienne and Jean Liébault. ''L'agriculture et maison rustique''. Paris.1583. Cited in ''The Cambridge World History of Food'' – Chestnuts, edited by Kenneth F. Kipple and Kriemhild Connee Ornelas.</ref> In 1802, an Italian [[agronomist]] said of Tuscany that "the fruit of the chestnut tree is practically the sole subsistence of our highlanders",<ref name=targioni>Targioni-Tozzetti 1802, Vol. 3: 154. Cited in ''The Cambridge World History of Food'' – Chestnuts.</ref> while in 1879 it was said that it almost exclusively fed whole populations for half the year, as "a temporary but complete substitution for cereals".<ref name=leplay>Les ouvriers européens. By Frédéric Le Play. 6 vols. Paris. 1879. Cited in ''The Cambridge World History of Food'' – Chestnuts, edited by Kenneth F. Kipple and Kriemhild Connee Ornelas.</ref>

In Britain, [[Boundaries in landscape history|boundary records]] compiled in the reign of King [[John of England|John]] already showed the famous [[Tortworth Chestnut]] in South [[Gloucestershire]], as a landmark; it was also known by the same name of "Great Chestnut of Tortworth" in the days of [[Stephen of England|Stephen]]. This tree measured over {{convert|50|ft|m|abbr=on}} in circumference at {{convert|5|ft|m|abbr=on}} from the ground in 1720. The [[Hundred Horse Chestnut]] in the chestnut forests on [[Mount Etna]] is the oldest living chestnut tree and is said to be even larger. Chestnut trees particularly flourish in the [[Mediterranean basin]].<ref name=botanical/> In 1584, the governor of [[Republic of Genoa|Genoa]], which dominated [[Corsica]], ordered all the farmers and landowners to plant four trees yearly, among which was a chestnut tree – plus [[olive]], [[Ficus carica|fig]] and [[mulberry]] trees. Many communities owe their origin and former richness to the ensuing chestnut woods.<ref name=terracorsa>[http://www.terracorsa.info/chestnut/chestnut.html The Chestnut Tree] in terracorsa.</ref> In France, the ''[[marron glacé]]'', a candied chestnut involving 16 different processes in a typically French cooking style, is always served at Christmas and New Year's time.<ref name=veg/> In [[Modena]], Italy, they are soaked in wine before roasting and serving,<ref name=veg/> and are also traditionally eaten on [[Nativity Fast#Coptic fast|Saint Simon's Day]] in [[Tuscany]].<ref name=peggy/> In the [[Romagna]] region, [[roasted chestnut]]s are often served with a traditional wine, the [[Cagnina di Romagna]]. It is traditional to eat roasted chestnuts in Portugal on [[St. Martin's Day]].

Their popularity declined during the last few centuries, partly due to their reputation of "food for poor people".<ref name=valnet>''Traitement des maladies par les légumes, les fruits et les céréales''. By Dr Jean Valnet. Ed. Maloine s.a., 1977, pp. 213 to 216. First published in 1964. {{ISBN|2-224-00399-4}}. Translated in English as ''Organic garden medicine – The medical uses of vegetables, fruits and grains'', Ed. Erbonia Books Inc., New York.</ref> Many people did not want to take chestnut bread as "[[bread]]" because chestnut flour does not rise. Some slandered chestnut products in such words as the bread which "gives a sallow complexion" written in 1770,<ref name=buchoz>''Dictionnaire universel des plantes, arbres et arbustes de la France'': 126. By Pierre-Joseph Buc'hoz. Paris. 1770.</ref> or in 1841 "this kind of mortar which is called a soup".<ref name=thouin>''Voyage dans la Belgique, la Hollande et l'Italie (1796–1798)'': 173. By André Thouin. Paris. 1841.</ref> The last decades' worldwide renewal may have profited from the huge reforestation efforts started in the 1930s in the United States to establish varieties of ''C. sativa'' which may be resistant to chestnut blight, as well as to relieve the strain on cereal supplies.

The main region in Italy for chestnut production is the [[Mugello region]]; in 1996, the European Community granted the fruit [[Geographical indications and traditional specialities in the European Union|Protected Geographic Indication]] (equivalent to the French ''Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée'') status to the [https://web.archive.org/web/20121106143320/http://www.firenzeturismo.it/en/prodotti-tipici-toscani/the-igp-mugello-sweet-chestnut.html Mugello sweet chestnut]. It is markedly sweet, peels easily, is not excessively floury or [[astringent]], and has notes of [[vanilla]], [[hazelnut]], and, more subtly, fresh bread. It has no unpleasant aroma, such as [[yeast]], [[fungus]], [[Mold (fungus)|mold]], or paper, which sometimes occur with other chestnuts.<ref name=mugello>[https://archive.today/20070814120447/http://www.firenzeturismo.it/en_EN/other-typical-products/the-igp-mugello-sweet-chestnut.html The IGP Mugello Sweet Chestnut.]</ref> The main regions in France for chestnut production are the départements of [[Ardèche]], [[Var (department)|Var]] (Eastern Provence), [[Cévennes]] (Gard and Lozère départements) and the [[Lyon]] region. France annually produces over 1,000 metric tons, but still imports about 8,000 metric tons, mainly from Italy.<ref name=candied>[http://pageperso.aol.fr/sophieherisse/MarronsGlaces.html Candied chestnuts (in French).]{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In Portugal's archipelago of Madeira, chestnut liquor is a traditional beverage, and it is gaining popularity with the tourists and in continental Portugal.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aportugueseaffair.com/portuguese-drinks/|title=The Portuguese Drinks You Need to Know • A Portuguese Affair|website=www.aportugueseaffair.com|access-date=2016-11-10|date=2016-01-24}}</ref>