28 Oct 2023
Elena Hogg, founder of local culinary company FOOD by Elena, writes every fortnight for the St Albans Times…
This was the train of thought that meandered through my mind as I walked among some golden and red trees the other day: oooh, look how beautiful the changing leaf colours are… autumn is definitely here… look at all the conkers on the ground under this horse chestnut tree… I remember always confusing
conkers and chestnuts when I was little… chestnuts are delicious.
Cue an immediate and all-consuming urge to hunt down some chestnuts, cook them and ingest in bulk.
And a timely compulsion it is too: chestnuts feature heavily as Bonfire Night approaches and temperatures drop, signalling mid-autumn (quite helpful this year after the dizzying Indian summer we had during the early part of this month).
Gastronomically speaking, it’s an exciting time: luxurious and fragrant slow-cooking replaces the slung-together summer salad, and stews abundant with earthy root vegetables provide nourishment for the soul as well as the body.
Chestnuts, with their soft, creamy nuttiness, fit beautifully into autumnal cuisine.
Their mild but distinctive flavour complements almost all meat, fish and vegetable dishes: they are as welcome in a beef stew as they are in a chunky vegetable soup or accompanying a dish of sea bass and purple-sprouting broccoli.
Roasting chestnuts is the traditional way, but my mum always boils them. For my part, I like to eat them raw because they’re crunchy that way, but also somehow a little spongy; a texture I find oddly compelling.
These days, to make life really easy, you can buy peeled and cooked chestnuts vacuum-packed or in the freezer aisle. Toss a handful over a wintry chicory salad or tuck into your cauliflower cheese. They really are so versatile – almost any dish you’d adorn with nuts or seeds can handle chestnuts too, I’d say.
Nutritionally speaking, they offer a punch of vitamin C and antioxidants, though more so if you eat them raw. They’re also low in fat, which makes them something of a winner in my book.
We had family over for late lunch last weekend and, for some culinary inspiration, I was trawling the market in St Albans.
The air was crisp and autumnal, and it put me in the mood to make something hearty and warming for our family lunch. I already had some organic chicken thighs in the fridge, and so what could be more autumnal (and easy on the washing-up) than laying them atop a roasting tin of wedged up onions and potatoes, strewn with thyme and sprinkled halfway through cooking with some plump chestnuts? Decision made.
The same net of chestnuts from the market gave rise to another dish I have long toyed with making. It’s quite a fancy concoction, and so it made for surprisingly posh fayre on a regular old Tuesday evening.
Fat scallops bronzed from their pan-frying sat draped in strips of Parma ham I’d crisped under the grill, before being enveloped by a moat of silky chestnut velouté. I was pretty pleased with the result – the sweet scallops, salty Parma ham and mild earthiness of the chestnut worked well together.
Much as the husband was appreciative, it’d have been more suited to a dinner party than our weekday supper. I’ll keep it up my sleeve for future use.
Chestnuts aren’t just for savoury eating, though, as proved by the legendary marron glacé and the ‘80s retro triumph, the Mont Blanc dessert. Time for an update, though, no? My mind goes swiftly to a coffee-chestnut collaboration – chestnut purée sandwiching coffee gel with a chestnut cookie crumb for crunch.
Perhaps a fudgy chestnut and chocolate torte, or a light chestnut soufflé with a hazelnut tuille… the mere thought of these is giving my salivary glands a workout.
So as autumn begins in earnest and gives us a whiff of the winter to come, I for one will be turning to chestnuts for some comfort and courage.
I remember being told by my eldest, who was studying the Romans at the time, that chestnut porridge was fed to soldiers before battle, and because battle is one term I use to describe the morning school run, some chestnut porridge might be just the ticket.
Alexa, add oats to my shopping list, please.
