Friday, January 12, 2007

Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire

Roasted chestnuts are usually associated with Christmas and the winter season. Although we have not had much of a winter weather this season, you can still get roasted chestnuts from hot dog and pretzel vendors in the city. They are usually available from early November to late January. A $2 bag will yield about 10 to 12 morsels of sweet chestnuts roasted in kosher salt.

Chestnusts are fairly vertatile in that they can be roasted, boiled or candied. They can also be grounded into powder for cakes or pureed into paste for pie fillings. But most often, they are found in turkey stuffing during Thanksgiving and Christmas.

This photo was taken in front of 55th Street and 5th Avenue in Manhattan. The roasted chestnuts and pretzels on the trays are for display only because they have been sitting in the open for hours and exposed to dirt and dust from the street. The vendor has a fresh supply of warm pretzels and chestnuts in the aluminium oven under the display trays.

Do you have a favorite chestnut recipe?

15 comments:

Unknown said...

Chestnuts stalls are a bit different in Asia, but they are equally popular.

Waiting for people to post their recipes so that I can try them :-)

pcfranchina said...

Not usually a fan of the chestnuts, but I do have to get myself a "Dirty Water Dog" every once in a while.

Phil
http://nycblogspot.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Hi, visiting your blog for the first time. My only "exposure" to NY so far is Sex and the City and The Apprentice! Your pictures give me an interesting insight to NY!

Annie said...

I don't have a favorite recipe because I'm unfamiliar with chestnuts. They must be considered too esoteric for Arkansas eaters. Maybe I'd better fly up to Manhattan and develop a more sophisticated palate.

Olivier said...

quand je me balladais dans new york, j'adorais ces vendeurs dans la rue. manger un bretzel chaud Hummmmm


when I balladais myself in New York, I adored these salesmen in the street. to eat a bretzel hot Hummmmm

Ming the Merciless said...

keropok man - I use to eat quite a bit of boiled chestnuts as a kid because my mom loves them.

pcfranchina - what is a "dirty water dog"????

simcooks - welcome and thanks for the comment.

annie - I don't recall eating chestnut in Louisiana either. Maybe it's not a southern thing.

olivier - I like sweet pretzels from the malls.

Dsole said...

I love them!!
:)

pcfranchina said...

Hotdogs cooked in the water. Ya think that water from the carts is clean? j/k

Ming the Merciless said...

pcfranchina - HAHAHA!! Sooo true! I have eaten a couple of them but mostly with out-of-town guests.

www.DeltaMovies.com said...

I believe that in Louisiana, we call them 'Brazil Nuts'. They are sometimes used in stuffing recipes for chicken, turkey, and small game birds.

Felicia said...

Mmmm. When I visited NYC I had some hot mixed nuts which were yummy. I've never had the chestnuts. Are chestnuts and water chestnuts the same? I sometimes throw water chestnuts in when I make tuna salad.

Ming the Merciless said...

deltamovies - yeah, I ate some chestnut dressing/stuffing in Louisiana.

felicia - water chestnut is like a potato (ie. root veggie) and tastes like a crisp apple. Chestnut is really a nut (ie. pit of a fruit) and tastes like a softer peanut but much sweeter. They are quite different.

Melting Wok said...

wei ming, this one is angmo chestnuts or chinese ones ? :)

Ming the Merciless said...

melting pot - they are angmo chestnuts. My mom used to put chestnuts in "chang", that steamed glutinous rice wrapped in leaves thingy.

Gerald (SK14) said...

The latest post at Hyde DP is Autumn Chestnuts and I've included links to some other chestnut postings including this one.