Chestnuts
 

Ok, T minus 6 days and counting till I go to Paris! Yippeee!! Does anyone know where the best place to find street vendors selling roasted chestnuts is? Are they all over or just in a few locations? Here in Seattle they just have them outside the 4seasons hotel.<BR><BR>Any other fun, festive ideas are welcome also!!<BR><BR>Thanks, Wendy

I don't know about street vendors but at a place called Allard on the Left Bank,I think on or near rue de Seine,they make these wonderful veggie dishes with chestnuts.They are so delicious and I cannot find anything like it in the States...Have a wonderful time,Wendy~C

They may sell them many places, but I know I bought around the Montmartre flea market on a Sunday; metro stop:Clingancourt.

I found many street vendors selling roasted nuts near thr Opera house and The Galleries Lafeyeete.

oops! Lafeyette

Does anyone actually like roasted chestnuts? While walking around in Verona, we smelled them roasting and they made my mouth water...we bought a bag and YUK! They were horrible. Maybe he sold me the rotten ones? Just thought I'd ask to see if they were worth a second chance.

They are delish, but extremely rich. The "skins" must be removed however. Most folks roast 'em with the skins on, some vendors remove them, some do not, & I think the skins are probably rather bitter.<BR><BR>Do try them again, perhaps you did get a bad batch!

You gotta peel the little things and underneath there is a fuzzy covering that you must also peel off. Your reward for all this hard work is a sumptuous-tasting treat. Chestnuts are more like legumes than nuts; they have very little fat and therefore can be consumed with abandon. Try marrons glace in France, which are candied chestnuts. Outstanding.

Just about any street corner, I know there is one right outside the St germain de Pres Metro...You are talking about one of my favorite foods here!<BR>Rmove hard outer skin, most times the fuzzy inside will come away too if not , that's why God gave you long fingernails, Pick it off and enjoy. The one thing I always bring home from Paris or London are jars and jars of Vac packed chestnuts , so I can use them all year.<BR>As some one else mentioned , the lowest fat of any nut, great in soups, salads ,stuffings with othere veggies....

Speaking of chestnuts: my husband ordered a delicious "chestnut mousse" dessert in Paris that was SO rich it was almost too much even for him! <BR>Have a blast Wendy! Will see you next month!

...And if you stop at the crepe stand on rue Cler (and at other crepe stands, possibly), you can have sweetened chestnut filling in your crepe. Delightful...

Roasted chesnuts are great (I've been brought up in a region where there are a lot of chesnut trees).<BR><BR>Unfortunately, those sold in the streets in Paris are most often half-cooked and usually of poor quality.

For a heavenly chestnut dessert, try the Mont Blanc at very old world chic Angelina Tea Salon on the rue du Rivoli; it is made of whipped cream and chestnut puree.

Good morning, there is an excellant<BR>chestnut stand opposite the Paradeplatz<BR>in Zurich at the entrance to the Im Gassen. Think the best we have had in<BR>EUR.. Richard of LaGrange Park, Il...

I was lucky enough to have Mont Blanc in a little restaurant in Grindelwald several years ago. When I couldn't possibly finish it, I asked to take the rest with me (I know, this was gauche). The server not only was happy to comply, she gave me the glass dish in which it was served. To this day the pretty little dish is known as "Mom's Swiss dish" in our family. The best kind of souvenir.<BR><BR>Mont Blanc is sweetened chestnut puree pressed through a ricer, resulting in long spaghetti-like strands of chestnut. This is topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

I am really fond of chestnuts in all their forms. In Paris all the grocery stores sell Nestl&eacute;s "Marronsuis," which are miniature chestnut mousses. Fabulous!<BR><BR>And for those of you inclined to cook, check out http://www.tassie.net.au/~cdibley/<BR>chestrec.html <BR>for an assortment of chestnut recipes, both sweet and savory.<BR><BR>Liz

Whoa! The drunken chestnut recipe looks like a keeper. Thanks, Liz

You're welcome, Liz too!<BR><BR>Liz

Like Sandi, I'd tried chestnuts from a street vendor and thought they were awful. This thread made me retry them. This afternoon my wife bought some and we roasted them (30 minutes at 325). You're right - - the meat tastes good, but how do you get the inner skin off? We ended up splitting them in two and eating the center part. But is there any easy way to skin them?

Joe<BR><BR>There's no easy way to get the shell off a chestnut. It's part of their charm. I think the ease of peeling them is directly related to the age of the chestnut and by the time some of them arrive here from Italy, they're pretty old. Also, unless your grocer refrigerates them, they deteriorate rapidly.<BR><BR>This recipe is copied from the site that Liz Z posted above.<BR>To roast: The simplest way to eat chestnuts is to roast, grill or BBQ them. First carefully make a cut through the outer shell to relieve the heat and pressure while cooking. Cook for 25-30 minutes on medium heat, turning after 15 minutes. Remove from heat and wrap in a towel or newspaper for 5 minutes. Remove the shell and the inner skin (pellicle) and they are ready to eat. If after cooking, your chestnuts are hard and dry, they are either too old or overcooked.<BR>