Cooking chestnuts. A classic recipe

Cooking chestnuts

How to cook chestnuts:

La Castanyada or Chestnut Day (October 31st) is a national holiday in Catalonia and Andorra, so Andorrans know how to cook chestnuts well.

Since the Middle Ages, chestnuts have been roasted over open fires in large braziers, filling the air with a sweetish, smoky smell. They are typically eaten with sweet baked potatoes (moniato), pastry (panellets) and sweet white wine (vi ranci and moscatell). Some time later, a more traditional delicacy was added to the list of delights – the sweet buns “panelles”.

At home, Andorrans generally prefer to cook chestnuts in a mangal over an open fire. It’s not typical to cook chestnuts in the oven.

During the holiday, only fresh chestnuts from the last harvest are used. In the shops, fresh chestnuts begin to be sold from the beginning of October and are available until about February-March, depending on the size of the year’s harvest.

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