Italian Chestnut

When the chestnut in season (late fall and winter), you will see 2 kinds in Toronto market: Chinese chestnut and Italian chestnut.

Even in China, I loved roasted Chinese chestnut so much I normally buy Italian chestnut in Toronto. They are bigger rounder and sweeter. I simply cut cross open on each chestnut and roast them in the oven (375 C) for about 30 minutes. It is a wonderful snack for me anytime.

Unfortunately, I do not have gas stove in Toronto (that is real stove should be). Otherwise I can do like my Roman friend does: roast chestnut on a special pan with many holes at the button directly on gas stove. It blacked parts of the chestnut and gave an amazing nutty roasted flavor. That is very close to those roasted chestnut old-school method sold on the street in China and Europe. No doubt that is my favorite way.

I did not know there is difference between chestnut and marron until I found this article:
“In 1996, the marrons of the Mugello and the Romagna Tuscana were awarded the Protected Geographic Indication, Italy's prestigious IPG . This indicates that they are something very special, and are only grown in a geographic area special for its history, customs, environment, landscape, culture and economy. Additionally, the Mugello DOP marrons are grown completely organically, without the use of chemical fertilizers or pesticides. But these special fruits are the marrons, and not the chestnuts. What makes them different, and why are they accorded such unique and valuable designations?

To begin with, any fruit of the chestnut tree is a chestnut, but only certain fruits are known as marrons. All marrons must look alike: they must be of the same size and shape, have the same glossy striped shell, and a rectangular, and not oval, hilium. The hilium is the delicate filament that holds a chestnut to its shell: a regular chestnut has an oval shaped hilium, but the hilium of the marron is always rectangular in shape. And, while the chestnut husk can contain up to seven fruits, the marron husk always contains only three. The marron is very easy to peel, and its compact white flesh is particularly sweet. Even though the chestnut and the marron come from the chestnut tree, only fruit that meets these exacting standards can be called a marron.”

http://www.florencevillas.com/newsletter/nl_19.htm#mugello