Earth chestnut ✦

Châtaigne de terre

What it is

The tuber forms a hand's depth down, on a stem no thicker than a thread, so it cannot be pulled — it has to be traced from the flowering stalk and dug out whole. That single fact is why a root tasting of raw hazelnut and chestnut has been foraged across Europe for centuries and never became a field crop.

In the kitchen

Scrub rather than peel: the skin is thin and most of the nut flavour sits directly under it. Eat them raw and sliced into a salad, or give them five minutes in butter at the most — boiled, they go floury and the hazelnut disappears.

Goes with

Butter Hazelnut Cream Parsley Walnut oil Lemon

Same species

Kala jeera

In season alongside

Borlotti bean Brussels sprout Butternut squash Cauliflower Kabocha Parsnip

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