Sweet chestnuts and walnuts: high-energy autumn food – and recognising horse chestnut
Sweet chestnuts and walnuts are among the most nourishing things that fall from trees in autumn. Sweet chestnuts provide a lot of starch and fill you up like potatoes; walnuts provide a lot of fat and protein. The only danger is taking the poisonous horse chestnut for a sweet chestnut. Here you learn to tell the husk, the nut and the leaf of both chestnuts apart, to sort nuts properly, to roast or boil chestnuts safely and to dry walnuts so they do not go mouldy.
- Collecting 30–60 minutes; roasting or boiling chestnuts 20–30 minutes; drying walnuts a few weeks
Spiegato in modo semplice
In autumn some trees drop nuts that really fill you up: sweet chestnuts, which you roast or boil, and walnuts, which you crack. They have a lot of energy – almost like a small loaf of bread.
But careful: there is also the horse chestnut. It looks similar but is poisonous and gives you a stomach ache. The sweet chestnut sits in a husk that looks like a hedgehog with lots of thin spines, and the nut has a small point with little hairs on top. The horse chestnut has only a few thick spikes and is round and smooth.
Before you roast sweet chestnuts, you cut them, otherwise they pop in the fire. You collect walnuts with gloves because the green husk stains your hands brown.
Come funziona
Sweet chestnuts are full of starch, similar to grain or potatoes. Raw, this starch is hard to digest, and tannins make the taste tart. When roasting or boiling, the starch swells and part of it turns into sugar – that is why hot chestnuts taste sweet and floury.
Walnuts consist largely of fat. Fat provides more than twice as much energy as starch, which is why walnuts are so nourishing. Fresh, however, they contain a lot of water, and damp nuts go mouldy quickly. Only drying makes them keep for months.
The horse chestnut is not related to the sweet chestnut at all. Its seeds contain saponins that irritate stomach and gut. Roasting does not remove them.
Ciò che conta davvero
Recognise the tree, not just the nut. Sweet chestnuts have long, narrow, coarsely toothed leaves; horse chestnuts have hand-shaped leaves of 5 to 7 large leaflets. Leaves usually lie under a tree too – a look up and at the ground settles the question.
Sort strictly. The float test removes hollow and wormy sweet chestnuts. Walnuts with dark spots, holes or a musty smell are discarded. Better a few good nuts than a pot full of doubtful ones.
Roast with care: score them, not too close to the flames, shake again and again. The chestnuts are done when the shell bursts open and the inside is soft.
Sicurezza: a cosa devi fare attenzione
Anyone who has eaten horse chestnuts and gets nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea calls the poison line. With children especially, rather call early. With breathing problems or reduced consciousness dial 112 or 144.
Mould on nuts must be taken seriously: some moulds form toxins that you can neither see nor taste and that do not disappear when cooked. Throw mouldy nuts away, do not cut the mould out.
Anyone with a nut allergy goes without. And on private land even fallen nuts belong to the owner.
Passo dopo passo
Where and when to collect
Sweet chestnuts grow in mild regions, in Austria mainly in Styria, Burgenland and Carinthia, in Germany for example in the Palatinate and the Upper Rhine. Walnut trees often stand in villages, along field edges and in gardens. Both drop their fruits in September and October. Collect what lies on the ground and ask for trees on private land.
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Where and when to collect
Sweet chestnuts grow in mild regions, in Austria mainly in Styria, Burgenland and Carinthia, in Germany for example in the Palatinate and the Upper Rhine. Walnut trees often stand in villages, along field edges and in gardens. Both drop their fruits in September and October. Collect what lies on the ground and ask for trees on private land.
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The sweet chestnut husk
The sweet chestnut husk is densely covered with long, fine, sharp spines – like a hedgehog. Inside there are usually two to three nuts. The tree's leaves are long, narrow and coarsely toothed at the edge, each tooth ending in a bristle tip. Open the husk with gloves or with your shoes.
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The nut with a tip
Sweet chestnuts are often flat on one side because several lay together in the husk. At the top they run out into a point with a small tuft of hairs. The shell is brown and leathery. Beneath it there is a thin, furry brown skin which you also remove after cooking.
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Rule out horse chestnut
The horse chestnut has a green husk with only a few short, thick spikes. Inside there is usually one round, glossy nut without a tip, with a large pale patch. Its leaves are hand-shaped: 5 to 7 large leaflets radiate from one point. Such nuts do not belong in the pot.
Horse chestnuts are poisonous – roasted too.
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Collect walnuts
Ripe walnuts fall out of their green husk, which turns black and splits open. Collect the nuts from the ground and wear gloves: the husk's juice stains the skin dark brown for days. If husk remains are hard to remove, leave the nuts for a few days and it gets easier.
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Sort: float test and a look inside
Put sweet chestnuts in a bowl of water. Those floating on top are often hollow, dried out or infested with worms – throw them away. Check walnuts and chestnuts for small bore holes and mould. If you open a nut and it is black, mouldy or bitter inside, throw it away.
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Roast or boil sweet chestnuts
Score each chestnut crosswise on its rounded side. To roast, place them in a pot without a lid or a pan over embers and shake again and again until the shell bursts open and the inside is soft – about 15 to 25 minutes. To boil, put them in rolling water for 20 to 30 minutes. Peel while still warm, also removing the furry skin.
Never into the fire unscored – they burst.
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Dry and store walnuts
Spread the cleaned walnuts in one layer in an airy, shady, dry place, for example on a grid or in a flat box, and turn them now and then. After a few weeks the kernels rattle in the shell. Then store them cool, dry and airy. Fresh sweet chestnuts only keep for a short time – store them cool and eat them soon, or dry them after cooking.
Errori comuni
- Collecting horse chestnuts because they are also called "chestnuts"
- Putting chestnuts into the fire unscored
- Shelling walnuts without gloves
- Storing nuts damp in sacks
- Eating floating or mouldy nuts
- Collecting on private land without asking
Panoramica rapida
Materiale
Guanti da lavoro robusti
Against the chestnut husk's spines and the staining walnut husk
Se tocchi fango dell'alluvione o sostanze chimiche, indossa anche guanti impermeabili.
Coltello (a lama fissa o con blocco della lama)
For scoring the chestnuts
Taglia lontano dal corpo.
Le regole sul trasporto dei coltelli variano da regione a regione – controlla le regole del posto.
Sacchetto o cesto da raccolta ben aerato
Raccogliere ogni specie separatamente, così nulla di sconosciuto si mescola
Niente sacchetti di plastica per tempi lunghi: la verdura suda e si guasta
Pentola di metallo (acciaio inox, alluminio, titanio)
For boiling or as a roasting pan
Calda: pericolo di ustioni.
Adatto a
- September to November
- Energy-rich food on cold days
- Stores: dried walnuts keep for months
Non adatto a
- Horse chestnuts – they are not edible
- Mouldy, black or wormy nuts
- People with a nut allergy
Prerequisiti
- Being able to tell sweet and horse chestnut apart by husk, nut and leaf
- Permission for trees on private land
- Nessuna allergia alla frutta a guscio
Sicurezza
- Throw away mouldy nuts, nuts that are black inside, smell rotten or taste bitter. Moulds can form toxins that cooking does not destroy.
- Whole chestnuts burst with a bang in the fire or pan and spray hot pieces. Always score the shell before roasting.
- Trees and shrubs belong to someone. What grows or falls on private land, in gardens and orchards belongs to the owner – ask first. Collecting is often banned in protected areas.
Come funziona
Sweet chestnuts store energy as starch, walnuts as fat. Raw sweet chestnuts contain tannins and hard-to-digest starch – heat makes them sweet, soft and digestible. Walnuts must dry so they do not go mouldy. Despite its name, the horse chestnut is not related to the sweet chestnut, and its husk, nut and leaves look quite different when you look closely.
Vantaggi
- Very energy-rich
- Easy to collect
- Walnuts store for a long time
- Sweet chestnuts fill you up like potatoes
Svantaggi
- Only a few weeks in autumn
- Poisonous look-alike with a similar name
- Sweet chestnuts only grow in mild regions
- Many trees stand on private land
Approfondimento
Contesto tecnico
In some mountain regions of southern Europe the sweet chestnut used to be so important that it was called the "bread tree": dried and ground, it replaced grain. Hot roasted chestnuts are still a winter snack at markets in Austria and Germany today.
Poison centres repeatedly report children eating horse chestnuts because they look similar to sweet chestnuts. Anyone who has once looked at both trees side by side – hedgehog husk and toothed leaves here, few spikes and hand-shaped leaves there – will not confuse them again.
Varianti
- Chestnut flour
- Dry cooked, peeled sweet chestnuts completely in thin slices and then crush or grind them. The sweetish flour stretches grain flour for flatbreads and porridge.
- In the embers
- Wrap scored chestnuts in foil or put them in an old tin with holes and cook them at the edge of the embers, turning several times. That way they burn less easily than open in the fire.
Errori comuni
- Collecting horse chestnuts because they are also called "chestnuts"
- Putting chestnuts into the fire unscored
- Shelling walnuts without gloves
- Storing nuts damp in sacks
- Eating floating or mouldy nuts
- Collecting on private land without asking
Limiti e rischi
- Vale per l'Europa centrale
- No exact nutritional values
- Nessuna promessa di guarigione
Alternative di materiali
Ricavate dalle proprietà dei materiali: un sostituto deve avere tutte le proprietà rilevanti. Tieni conto delle note sul sostituto.
- Sacchetto o cesto da raccolta ben aerato
- Pentola di metallo (acciaio inox, alluminio, titanio) (Calda: pericolo di ustioni.), Bottiglia in acciaio inox a parete singola (Scalda solo bottiglie a parete singola, senza vernice o plastica; togli il tappo prima di scaldare.), Bottiglia isolata a doppia parete (Non scaldare mai direttamente.), Bottiglia in PET (trasparente, max 2 litri) (Non scaldare e non mettere sul fuoco.), Tanica per acqua adatta agli alimenti (Usa solo contenitori che non hanno mai contenuto sostanze chimiche o carburante.), Contenitore per alimenti ermetico e adatto al contatto con il cibo (Riempi solo quando è pulito e completamente asciutto; non usare mai contenitori che prima contenevano prodotti chimici.), Contenitore o sacca d'acqua pieghevole (Proteggere da oggetti appuntiti.), Brocca graduata, Sacca per l'acqua per alimenti (Usare solo per l'acqua potabile, mai per sostanze chimiche o combustibili.), Barattolo o vaso per fermentazione (Usa solo contenitori adatti agli alimenti, in vetro, in gres smaltato idoneo al contatto con gli alimenti o in plastica per alimenti – niente contenitori di metallo per alimenti acidi.), Sacchetti per alimenti richiudibili (Usa solo sacchetti adatti agli alimenti; non usarli con acqua bollente, a meno che il produttore non lo consenta esplicitamente.), Contenitore rigido per la raccolta (scatola, cesto o tazza) (Una specie per contenitore – non mescolare mai nulla di sconosciuto)
- Pentola di metallo (acciaio inox, alluminio, titanio)
- Bottiglia in acciaio inox a parete singola (Scalda solo bottiglie a parete singola, senza vernice o plastica; togli il tappo prima di scaldare.)
I risultati provengono esclusivamente da voci strutturate. Non vengono generate istruzioni improvvisate.
Fonti (5)
- Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung (BfR) (2017): Risiko Pflanze – Einschätzung und Hinweise · Horse chestnut as a poisonous plant; gastrointestinal symptoms
- Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung (BfR): Giftpflanzen: Wie kann man sich schützen und was ist bei einer Vergiftung zu tun? (Fragen und Antworten) · Confusion of edible with poisonous plants, especially by children; what to do in case of poisoning
- Ray Mears und Gordon Hillman, Hodder & Stoughton (2007): Wild Food · Sweet chestnuts and walnuts as energy-rich wild food in autumn; cooking chestnuts
- Headquarters, Department of the Army (USA) (2002): FM 3-05.70 Survival · Nuts as valuable emergency food; only eat reliably identified plants
- Gesundheitsportal Österreich (gesundheit.gv.at), Bundesministerium für Soziales, Gesundheit, Pflege und Konsumentenschutz: Vergiftungsinformationszentrale (VIZ) · Centro antiveleni in Austria (VIZ), attivo 24 ore su 24; in caso di pericolo acuto 112 o 144