Editing Chestnut (section)

===Culinary===
[[File:Avignon marchand de marrons chauds à la Porte Saint-Michel Foire Saint-André.jpg|thumb|A hot chestnut seller in [[Avignon]], 1936]]
[[File:Castagne secche dried chestnut italy.JPG|thumb|Dried chestnut in the South of Italy]]{{Cookbook}}
The fruit can be peeled and eaten raw, but it can be somewhat [[astringent]], especially if the pellicle is not removed.<ref name=unifi>[http://www3.unifi.it/ueresgen29/ds7.htm ''Description of European Chestnut''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090923175814/http://www1.unifi.it/ueresgen29/ds7.htm |date=2009-09-23 }}. By F. Ferrini and F. P. Nicese. Horticulture Department – University of Florence – Italy.</ref>

Another method of eating the fruit involves roasting, which does not require peeling. Roasting requires scoring the fruit beforehand to prevent explosion of the fruit due to expansion. Once cooked, its texture is slightly similar to that of a baked potato, with a delicate, sweet, and nutty flavour.<ref name=chestnutbrook/><ref name=laren43/><ref name=cottage>[http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/?p=97 Sweet Chestnut Jam recipe. Storing Sweet Chestnuts], in ''The Cottage Smallholder''.</ref> This method of preparation is popular in many countries, where the scored chestnuts may be cooked mixed with a little sugar.

Chestnuts can be dried and milled into flour, which can then be used to prepare breads, [[cake]]s, [[Chestnut pie|pies]], [[pancake]]s, [[pasta]]s, [[polenta]]<ref name=grocer/> (known in Corsica as ''pulenda''), or used as thickener for [[stew]]s, [[soup]]s, and [[sauce]]s. [[Chestnut cake]] may be prepared using chestnut flour.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Richardson|first1=A.|last2=Young|first2=G.|title=The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen: Classic Family Recipes for Celebration and Healing|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=2014|isbn=978-1-4391-4256-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rb7BAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA134|pages=134–135}}</ref> In Corsica, the flour is fried into [[doughnut]]-like [[fritter]]s called ''[[fritelli]]'' and made into ''[[neccio|necci]], [[pattoni]], {{ill|castagnacci|it|castagnaccio}},'' and ''[[cialdi]]''.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=_7TPAAAAMAAJ&dq=fritelli+chestnut&pg=PA628 Volume 14] 1880 Scribners monthly page 628</ref> The flour can be light beige like that from Castagniccia, or darker in other regions.<ref name="terracorsa"/> It is a good solution for long storage of a nutritious food.<ref name=uniminnesota/> Chestnut bread can stay fresh as long as two weeks.<ref name=grocer/>

The nuts can also be eaten candied, boiled, steamed, deep-fried, grilled, or roasted in sweet or savory recipes.<ref name=grocer/> They can be used to stuff vegetables, poultry, fowl, and other edibles.<ref name=botanical/> They are available fresh, dried, ground, or canned (whole or in puree).

Candied chestnuts (whole chestnuts candied in sugar syrup, then iced<ref name=candied/>) are sold under the French name ''[[marrons glacés]]'' or Turkish name ''kestane şekeri'' ("sugared chestnuts"). They appeared in France in the sixteenth century. Toward the end of nineteenth century, [[Lyon]] went into a recession with the collapse of the textile market, [[History of silk#The silk industry in France|notably silk]]. Clément Faugier, a civil engineer, was looking for a way to revitalize the regional economy. In 1882 at [[Privas]], he invented the technology to make ''marrons glacés'' on an industrial scale (although a great number of the more than 20 necessary steps from harvest to the finished product are still accomplished manually).<ref name=botanical/> Chestnuts are picked in autumn, and candied from the start of the following summer for the ensuing Christmas. Thus, the ''marrons glacés'' eaten at Christmas are those picked the year before.<ref name=promo>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090126182449/http://www.prochedevous-enligne.com/index.cgi?numero=110&type=article&pageid=846&archives=1 "C'est le mois – Les marrons glacés synonymes de fêtes de fin d'année"]. By Marie-Françoise Briand. Article in review n° 110. In French.</ref>

[[File:Castanyera.png|thumb|An [[Auca (cartoon)|auca]] of the 19th century with the image of Catalan ''Castanyera'', the traditional seller of chestnuts.]]
In [[Spain]], on 31 October on the eve of the [[All Saints' Day]], [[Catalonia]] celebrates ''la [[castanyada]]'', a festivity that consists of eating chestnuts, [[panellets]], [[sweet potatoes]] and [[Muscat (grape)|muscatell]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2016-11-04|title=La castanyera, les castanyes i els panellets|url=https://www.calamariabarcelona.com/en/la-castanyera-les-castanyes-i-els-panellets/|access-date=2020-10-21|website=Ca la Maria a Boutique Bed & Breakfast|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Catalan tradition of La Castanyada|url=https://www.speakeasybcn.com/en/blog/the-catalan-tradition-of-la-castanyada|access-date=2020-10-21|website=Speakeasy|language=en}}</ref> On November, in the regions of [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]], [[Asturias]], [[Cantabria]] and other Northern provinces and [[Portugal]], the ''[[Magosto]]'' is celebrated.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Magosto: A Spanish Celebration of Fall (& Chestnuts)|url=https://simplespanishfood.typepad.com/simple-spanish-food/2011/10/magosto-a-spanish-celebration-of-fall-chestnuts-.html|access-date=2020-10-21|website=Simple Spanish Food|archive-date=2020-11-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201104194406/https://simplespanishfood.typepad.com/simple-spanish-food/2011/10/magosto-a-spanish-celebration-of-fall-chestnuts-.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In [[Hungarian cuisine]], cooked chestnuts are [[purée]]d, mixed with sugar (and usually [[rum]]), forced through a [[Potato ricer|ricer]], and topped with [[whipped cream]] to make a dessert called ''gesztenyepüré'' (chestnut purée).<ref>[http://www.chew.hu/gesztenyepure/ Gesztenyepüré] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140112143915/http://www.chew.hu/gesztenyepure/ |date=January 12, 2014 }} at Chew.hu</ref> In [[Swiss cuisine]], a similar dish made with [[kirsch]] and [[butter]] is called ''vermicelles''. A [[French cuisine|French]] version is known as "[[Mont Blanc (dessert)|Mont Blanc]]".

A fine granular sugar can be obtained from the fermentation of the juice,<ref name=grocer/><ref name=facciola>Facciola, S. ''Cornucopia – A Source Book of Edible Plants''. Kampong Publications, 1990. {{ISBN|0-9628087-0-9}}. Cited in ''Plants for a Future''.</ref> as well as a beer; the roasted fruit provides a coffee substitute.<ref name="facciola"/> [[Antoine-Augustin Parmentier|Parmentier]], who among other things was a famous potato promoter, extracted [[sugar]] from chestnuts and sent a chestnut [[sugarloaf]] weighing several pounds to the [[University of Lyon|Academy of Lyon]].<ref name=parmentier>Antoine Parmentier. ''Traité de la châtaigne''. 1780. Bastia, Corsica. Cited in ''The Cambridge World History of Food'' – Chestnuts, edited by Kenneth F. Kipple and Kriemhild Connee Ornelas.</ref> The [[Continental System|continental blockade]] following shortly after (1806–1814) increased the research into developing chestnuts as a source of sugar, but Napoleon chose [[beet]]s instead.<ref name=kipple>[http://www.cambridge.org/us/books/kiple/chestnuts.htm ''The Cambridge World History of Food'' – Chestnuts]. Edited by Kenneth F. Kipple and Kriemhild Connee Ornelas.</ref>

Sweet chestnuts are not easy to peel when cold. One kilogram of untainted chestnuts yields about 700 g of shelled chestnuts.<ref name=laren43/>