Peeling Chestnuts

To me, few food items bring more joy to late fall than chestnuts. I love them! I clearly remember the smell of chestnuts roasting at street carts near Central Park in New York as a child. The sweet, nutty flavor and slightly mealy texture makes a delightful foil to roasted dishes of all types. But for all their joys, chestnuts can be a considerable pain in the neck to prepare.

I recently decided to try several methods of cooking and peeling chestnuts to see which approach works best. I followed the roasted and boiling methods recommended in the Silver Spoon cookbook (the recently translated Italian “Joy of Cooking” equivalent) and Julia Child’s recommended method from ”The Way to Cook.” I also experimented with three slicing methods for scoring the shells before cooking (one slice down the middle of the flat side, the traditional “X” cut across the flat side, and Julia Child’s method of cutting away the edges of the flat sides).

The verdict? By far the easiest and best for getting shelled and peeled chestnuts is Julia Childs. And for all methods, the Julia Child cut works best, followed by the traditional “X”. By not really cooking the chestnuts before peeling, Julia Child’s method does the best job of providing beautiful, whole nut meats. Flavorwise? The roasting method easily produced the most flavorful nuts in the opinion of al tasters. By not using water, it concentrates the natural chestnut flavors. Since the nuts are fully cooked, they are ready to eat, but most break up a bit on deshelling.


Julia Child’s Method
Cut a strip of the shell of the shell of the chestnut on the flat side (as show in the picture). I found that the chestnuts were easiest to peel when very hot, so I wore clean dishwashing gloves and switched to cooking fewer at a time than Ms. Child recommended. Boil a small pot of water and add 3 chestnuts at a time. Cook for about 1 minute. Pull out the first chestnut and peel rapidly. Pull off the shell and rub the skin to remove. You may need a small paring knife to cut skin out of the folds. If the skin won’t come off easily drop the nut back into the water while you work on the next nut. I found that about ½ of the skins came off on the initial shelling, the remaining came off after one reheat. Retrieve the net nut and repeat. Add three more nuts to the water when you remove the third one. Chestnuts prepared in this manner need to be braised or otherwise cooked before eating.

Silver Spoon Roasting Method
Preheat the oven to 350° If you are a traditionalist, “X” the chestnut, otherwise, use the Julia Child cut. Roast on a tray for 30 minutes. Peel as quickly as possible, as they are easier to peel when hot. Chestnuts prepared in this manner are ready to eat and can be chopped and added to recipes at the last minute.