Words Niamh Leonard-Bedwell. Photographs Stocksy
We’ve come to associate them with Christmas thanks to Nat King Cole’s 1946 classic, but in reality, chestnuts have been enjoyed year-round for centuries. The Greeks and Romans ate them regularly and preserved them after harvest to use in their cooking. They’re also common in French cuisine, and during the 18th and 19th centuries, chestnut forests were planted in France to accommodate mass cultivation.
Here in the UK, they’re typically in season from October until December, which is why we tend to tuck into them when Jack Frost starts nipping at our noses. Sweet chestnut trees produce the nuts, which grow in spiky green shells. But don’t mistake them for your childhood conkers, which grow on horse chestnut trees, as those are inedible.