Chestnuts

Now is the time to buy chestnuts in Melbourne. And a nice drive in the Dandenongs can net some bargains. I found 1kg bags of raw chestnuts for $8 each near kallista.

chestnut growers website describes how to cook chestnuts, and has some really great looking recipies, Melbourne style.
http://www.chestnutsaustralia.com.au/

Now a brief survey of medieval cookery with chestnuts:


A dish of Chestnuts with lamb




soups:
two similar recipies from France, only 20 years apart:
for a subtle English brouet
"For a subtle English brouet - If you want to make subtle English brouet, take hens and cook the livers, then take chestnuts then cut them from the hulls and grind together, then temper with the broth that the hens were cooked in, and add ginger, saffron and long pepper and mix with clear broth, then put together."

subtle english soup
"Subtle English soup. Take cooked peeled chestnuts, egg yolks cooked in wine, and a bit of pork liver. Crush everything together, soak with a bit of lukewarm water, and sieve. Grind ginger, cloves and saffron (to give colour), and boil together."

Quick & Dirty Redaction:
chicken stock
ground chestnuts (roasted or boiled)
ginger, safron, cloves or long pepper
optional: hard boiled eggyolk
optional: minced pork or chicken

Either mince/grind ingredients small before adding them, or puree final mix. Put in pan, bring to boil, probably simmer.

Interestingly nearly two centuries earlier, in spain, a similar recipie is used:
http://www.medievalcookery.com/cgi-bin/display.pl?aac:305
"Preparation of Chestnut Qaliyya. Take a piece of meat and cut it. Put it in the pot and add in salt, pepper, coriander seed, pounded onion and clarified butter. Fry it gently and put in the same amount each of vinegar and murri and some pepper and saffron. Take chestnuts and clean them, pound them well and stir them with water. Put enough of the broth of it to cover the meat. When it has cooked, beat for it three eggs with pepper and chopped cilantro. Put it on the coals and when it has settled, pour it out, present it and eat it, if God wills."

The other option for interpretation of the above is as something more like a casserole, or in fact a tarjine, lke this one from the same book:
http://www.medievalcookery.com/cgi-bin/display.pl?aac:351
http://www.medievalcookery.com/cgi-bin/display.pl?aac:304

pig
a popular use of chestnuts seems to be to stuff pigs or piglet.
roasted piglet - stuffing of entrails, hard boiled egg, cheese, roast pear, chestnuts, spices
http://www.medievalcookery.com/cgi-bin/display.pl?ens:8


fish caserole
http://www.medievalcookery.com/cgi-bin/display.pl?ldc:195
http://www.medievalcookery.com/cgi-bin/display.pl?ldc:214
http://www.medievalcookery.com/cgi-bin/display.pl?ldc:218


http://www.medievalcookery.com/cgi-bin/display.pl?nboc:73
http://www.medievalcookery.com/cgi-bin/display.pl?nboc:122


http://www.medievalcookery.com/cgi-bin/display.pl?ebe:45
implies that one might like to eat chestnuts just as roast chestnuts at the end of a meal.