By: Ivana Dragica |
Chestnut’s sweet benefits |
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Now is the ideal time to go out in the nature, enjoy fresh air and find chestnuts.
Sweet chestnut, lat. Castanea sativa, is one of the first food items humans ever ate.
It is mostly found in southern Europe and around the Mediterranean and historians believe that this plant came from Greece into Europe.
The chestnut tree resembles oak tree, it is much appreciated and has high quality and it can live for 500 hundred years.
The oldest chestnut tree, dubbed “Hundred horses”, is located on Sicilian mountain Etna and it is believed that it is between 2000 and 4000 years old.
In the past, just as today, chestnut has been eaten roasted and cooked and minced chestnut was used for making a potion that served as a coffee substitute.
Chestnut honey was used for making honey schnapps.
According to one legend, a Greek army survived eating chestnuts while retreating from Asia Minor in 401. BC.
This nutty fruits have been, due to their high nutritive value, distributed to the poor people of France on St. Martin’s day and in Tuscany they are traditionally eaten on St. Simon’s day.
Chestnut’s healing and nutritive properties
Chestnut has double the amount of starch than potato so it is not surprising that chestnut is still one of the staple foods in China, Japan and southern Europe.
In those parts of the world, chestnut is often used as flour for baking bread, which is why it was nicknamed “Bread tree”.
Like almond and walnut, it does not contain gluten. That is why chestnut is good for people suffering from celiac disease, people sensitive to gluten or people allergic to wheat.
It contains minerals, B-group vitamins, vitamins A and C. They are preserved during cooking, since the fruit is covered with thick peel.
Chestnut is rich in potassium and phosphorus, and it also contains calcium, magnesium, sulfur, chlorine, iron, copper and manganese.
One hundred grams of raw chestnuts have only 200 calories and the main ingredient is a starch - about 44%.
This is the only nut that contains vitamin C. Apart from that, chestnut is unusually rich in folic acid that is often found in green leafy vegetables.
Folic acid has a role in cell growth, DNA synthesis and normal functioning of the nervous system.
By consuming food rich in folic acid we increase our chances of conception and during pregnancy this acid ensures regular fetus development.
Chestnut is also a rich source of mono-unsaturated fats such as oleic and palmitic acid.
Mono-unsaturated fats protect the health of the cardiovascular system and they help with lowering cholesterol levels.
Due to its high energy value, chestnut is recommended for children, athletes, pregnant women and elderly people.
It also helps with kidney and digestive problems, and you can use it for excreting the excess amounts of water from your organism. Besides, it also has an anti-inflammatory effect so it is an ideal food item for people suffering from arthritis and rheum.
Chestnut preparations
Chestnut tea alleviates asthma symptoms and cough.
Prepare the tea pouring a handful of fresh chestnut leaves and half a handful of dried chestnut leaves into 0.5 l of hot water.
You can drink three cups of this tea a day. You can also gurgle the tea if you suffer from common cold or throat inflammation.
A tincture made of chestnut has shown to be very effective against hemorrhoids. Generally, chestnut has good effect on blood vessels.
Chestnut honey is very healthy and enhances circulation, protects the liver, helps with gastritis, anemia and physical and intellectual fatigue.
Chestnut bark and tree are rich in tannins (they contain over 10% tannins) so they can be used as astringents (a remedy for contracting the surface of mucous and injured skin).
Chestnut fringes are used for stopping diarrhea and bleeding caused by external skin wounds.
Cooked chestnuts clean blood and are especially beneficent with excess uric acid so they are recommended for people suffering from gout and rheum.
Chestnut in cuisine
Chestnut is mostly cooked or roasted. Chestnut puree is very popular and it can be served as an individual dish or as a desert.
Due to high starch content, chestnut is used for making flour that is used, often mixed with other cereal flours, for baking bread and buns.
Chestnut soup
Ingredients
- 3 spoons of oil
- 1 minced carrot
- 1 minced celery rib
- 1 minced onion
- 6 cups of vegetable broth
- ¼ of cup of finely cut fresh parsley
- ¼ of spoon of clove
- 2 laurel leaves
- one pound of peeled fresh chestnuts
- ¼ cup of soy milk (non-sweet)
- salt and pepper
Preparation
Simmer carrots, celery and onion for 8-10 minutes over a mild fire. Add vegetable broth and stir. Add parsley, clove, laurel and chestnuts. Let it boil and cook for another 30 minutes.
After that add soup, soy milk and let it boil again. Add salt and pepper.
Chestnut, orange and tangerine salad
Ingredients
- 700 g of sliced cooked chestnut
- 250 g of sliced oranges and tangerines
- ¼ of cup of tamari or soy sauce
- 1-2 spoon of maple or agave syrup
- 2 spoons of lime or lemon juice
- pomegranate seeds or almond slices (for decoration)
Preparation
Mix tamari and agave syrup with lime juice. Add other ingredients and stir. Add more syrup or tangerine juice according to your taste. Serve in glasses.
Salad can be decorated with pomegranate seeds or almond slices.
Picking
Chestnuts are picked in a woods in October. Fringes are picked in spring and are dried in shade. Bark can be taken from branches during the spring period when juices flow through chestnut tree. In autumn they are replaced by spiky shells that envelop chestnut fruits.
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