You know you’re on the home straight to Christmas when, even if you have missed the windfalls, there are mounds of fresh sweet chestnuts in shops and supermarkets or charred over braziers ready to be popped into paper bags by vendors on street corners.

There’s a certain romance about chestnuts, whether its Nat King Cole crooning about them being roasted on an open fire, or Garbo as the consumptive heroine of Dumas’ La Dame aux Camelias longing for marrons glacés (candied chestnuts). In the mountain regions of Italy and France, chestnuts are much more than a Christmas ingredient for stuffing, or mixing with Brussels sprouts.

They are a staple food, with local communities celebrating their arrival with fairs and festivals and using them in a multitude of ways, from drying them and grinding them into flour for bread, puréeing them for that classic northern Italian dessert, Montebianco, adding them to salads, or pairing them with chocolate in rich cakes and desserts. The biggest, smoothest, fattest variety, Marron (Marroni in Italy) are the ones that are sugared to make marrons glacés.

How do you roast chestnuts?
Cut a slit or cross into each nut, to allow the steam to escape and prevent the nuts from exploding. If you have an open fire, put them on to a shovel and toast them until charred and tender. Alternatively, you can “roast” them in a dry frying pan, turning regularly for around 10-15 minutes, or put them in a hot oven at around 200-220C/Gas 7 for about half an hour. Cool just enough to handle, then peel them and also take away the thin inner skin. Check that the nuts are not peppered with worm holes before eating.

How else can you cook them?
If you want to purée them, serve them braised or use them in baking, you can bring to the boil then simmer for 20-25 minutes until tender, then peel them – they may fall apart as you do so. Chefs often recommend a combination of roasting and boiling/steaming so that you achieve the soft texture, with the sweetness that comes from roasting. At the Gate in Hammersmith, they suggest boiling them for 5-10 minutes before roasting in the oven, while at Locanda Locatelli, Giorgio Locatelli likes to lay the chestnuts on a sheet of foil after making the incision in their shells, pour over a few tablespoons of water, then close up the foil to make a parcel, before putting them into the oven (same temperature and time as above).

Where to buy?
Ready-prepared chestnuts are available from Merchant Gourmet, specialist in French chestnuts from the Auvergne. It offers whole chestnuts, vacuum-packed immediately after roasting and peeling (200g, around £1.99), as well as unsweetened chestnut purée (435g around £1.47) from major supermarkets or online (www.merchantgourmet.com; 020-7635 4096). Chestnut flour from Shipton Mill (www.shipton-mill.com; 01666 505050).

Readers’ queries

Where can I buy organic mutton?
Graig Farm offers all sorts of cuts, from chops to loin and meat for casseroles (www.graigfarm.co.uk; 01597 851655).

If you have a food query, e-mail food.detective@thetimes.co.uk

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