Saw these at Wegman's a while ago, and they struck something in me. I couldn't recall if I'd had them before. I sort of vaguely recall maybe having them once, but I wasn't sure. So, clearly I bought them, to either try chestnuts for the first time, or at least the second, and the first time in a long time.
There are four basic kinds of chestnuts, and their common names are based on where these subspecies are from. These are Japanese, Chinese, European, and American. This tree is related to beeches and oaks, and mainly likes temperate regions in the Northern Hemisphere (although they do also grow in Australia and New Zealand in the Southern Hemisphere). A couple of "chestnuts" are actually not true chestnuts--mainly water chestnuts and horse chestnuts. (The latter not only isn't a real member, but its nuts are toxic to humans, so it's kind of an important distinction.) Sadly, the American chestnut is now extremely rare. A blight in the early 20th century wiped out 3 to 4 billion trees. Even the few that remain are sometimes hybrids combined with Chinese chestnuts, which are thought to have been the source of the blight, but are also somewhat resistant to it.
I was also surprised to learn how big the trees get. In fact, the Guinness Book of World Records credits a chestnut as having the Greatest Tree Girth, with one having a circumference of 190 feet (57.9 meters). Height-wise they don't get as tall as sequoias or redwoods, but still, these can be huge woody plants. Additionally, they can also live a long time, as they have lived 2000-4000 years in extreme cases. Three individual ones have names: There's the Sacred Chestnut in Istan, Spain, the Tortworth Chestnut in England (mentioned as a boundary marker hundreds of years ago), and the Hundred-Horse Chestnut in Sicily, so named because it supposedly sheltered 100 mounted knights during an ancient thunderstorm.
The fruit of the chestnut tree, the nut, has been consumed by people for at least 4000 years, and perhaps even as long as 6000 years. The chestnuts can be eaten raw, but they're more commonly roasted, and sometimes made into a flour. From here they can then be made into breads and cakes, or used to thicken soups. Some folks even candy them, or make a kind of liquor. Nutritionally they're a bit odd for a nut, as they're comparatively low in fat, and protein, while being relatively high in carbohydrates. Chestnuts are also the only nut which have some Vitamin C. Alas, because they've become associated as a food for poor folks, their popularity has suffered a bit in the past couple of hundred years. Chestnut tree wood, meanwhile, is useful, too, as its high amount of tannin helps make it durable. Barrels made of this wood are popular for aging balsamic vinegar, and certain types of beer.
The chestnuts I bought were peeled and roasted, and evidently they had quite a journey getting to me. They're listed as being grown in China, imported by S&J Sales Co., from the U.K., and then manufactured for the Kenover Marketing Corp. out of NJ, U.S.A. The brand name is Gefen. Although it didn't specify on the bag, since they're from China, presumably they're the Chinese sub-type. They were fat (about 1 inch, or about 2.5 cm. in diameter), brown nuts, roughly circular, but with noticeable sections or lobes. The lobes made them look a little like a garlic bulb. The packaging was clearly superior, as the nuts themselves were still moist. At first bite I was reminded of the flavor of walnuts. Which is bad to me--I strongly dislike walnuts, perhaps in part because they sometimes cause me digestive issues. However, this impression was fleeting, and they grew on me pretty quickly. My subsequent bites were better. They were chewy, and soft, and had a decent taste, with a hint of sweetness. They weren't great like cashews, or macadamias, or pistachios, or peanuts (I know, peanuts are technically legumes, not nuts, but whatever) but they were respectable. I'm also curious how they taste in "bread" format, or candied, in cakes, in booze form, etc. Overall I'd recommend chestnuts.
I'll conclude with a couple of tidbits about them. The ancient Greek doctors Galen and Dioscorides both touted their alleged medicinal qualities, but warned that the price was increased flatulence. Also, if you fall in love with them, and even regard them as your muse, you're not the first, as various poems and songs have been written about them. Conversely, if you find yourself hating them, you can't correctly tell a chestnut tree to go screw itself, as they are unable to self-pollinate. Finally, despite what Dr. Evil's father was reported to have said about them (in "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery" (1997)), I could find no evidence that chestnuts are, in fact, lazy.
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