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Recipes: Sweet charms of chestnuts

Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 02/11/2008

There's much more to them than nostalgia, writes Maria Fitzpatrick

Any food that conjures up crackling fires and cold noses is bound to warm the heart - and the tastebuds. Chestnut season, though, seems to evoke particularly special sentiment - part nostalgia (memories of first roasted chestnuts), part childish adventure (bonfire night) and large helpings of tradition (the stuffing).

Alan Hill, head chef at the Devonshire Arms at Beeley, Derbyshire, who provided this week's recipes, believes they are underused. "In France they are a main component of baking; they make use of the grainy texture in cakes and biscuits. They are delicious 'sugared', and combine well with dark chocolate, too."

Sweet chestnuts, commonly found in southern Europe, are lower in fat than most nuts, gluten-free and can be milled into flour. The tree takes 20 years to fruit, however, and British ones are in short supply. "Go to any farmers' market with 10 bags of chestnuts and they'll be gone in half an hour. Much of Britain's supply comes from France and Italy, says Alan." If you stumble upon a sweet chestnut tree, you'll recognise the hedgehog-like cases, filled with two or three triangular nuts. Alan advises choosing the heavier, smoother ones; check their plumpness by giving the shell a squeeze. "The little ones are sweeter, but they're more fiddly to prepare."