“How providential of chestnuts to be on hand when days are short, and evenings long and cold” writes Marcella Hazan in Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, before introducing me to a novel way to prepare these sweet winter nuggets. Most of us are familiar with roasted chestnuts, if not by their aroma then as the soothing voice of Nat King Cole before he wishes us Merry Christmas, but how about chestnuts braised in wine? Hazan associates this particular preparation with her days as a University student. “I remember almost looking forward to winter,” she writes, “to those days that would end sitting by a fireplace with friends, a pot of boiled chestnuts, and a flask of rough, young wine”.
It sounded worth trying, even without the fireplace, so when I saw bags of locally grown chestnuts at the Local General Store, I decided to make a detour to the liquor store to stock up on Chianti as well.
Spice it Up?
Chestnuts. Wine. A pinch of salt. Is that all it takes? It could be. Marcella Hazan also adds a couple bay leaves to her pot, and I started wondering if there was anything else in my spice cabinet that would pair well with chestnuts and red wine. A few options came to mind: cinnamon, cloves, allspice, black pepper. Maybe even a small amount of cardamom. I was drawn, however, to a new addition in my pantry: black pepper’s more fragrant and sensual cousin, long pepper.
Long pepper (Piper longum), is an elongated cluster of tiny berries, roughly the size of sesame seeds, that are harvested, dried and used a seasoning, much like the more familiar Piper nigrum, the berries that give us green, white and black peppercorns. But whereas Piper nigrum is ubiquitous in kitchen cabinets and on dining tables worldwide, and very easy to acquire, Piper longum is virtually unknown in the Western world. This was not always the case. Introduced from India during the CLassical Era, long pepper was known by the Greeks, and was the pepper of choice in Ancient Rome. Black pepper was also available in Europe, but did not become widespread until the 12th century. Medieval cookbooks such as Le Ménagier de Paris, written circa 1393, make ample use of long pepper, but by the end of that century, it had fallen out of favour, just as the chili pepper, introduced from the New World, was gaining in popularity.
Max Falkowitz, in an article for Serious Eats, describes the flavour as such:
Its flavor is much more complex than black pepper, reminiscent of spice blends like garam masala more than a single spice. It possesses black pepper’s heat and musk, but in a less harsh, more nuanced way, tempered by sweet notes of nutmeg, cinnamon, and cardamom. Its finish lingers on the tongue with a tobacco-like coolness; where black pepper stings, long pepper balms.
I find that the complex, heady aroma of this unusual pepper works really well with red wine and the simple, nutty sweetness of chestnuts. You can find long pepper in some specialty food shops as well as from some online spice merchants. I bought mine from Charelli’s, a local cheese shop and delicatessen.
Recipe Notes
- Feel free to substitute long pepper with any of the spices I mentioned above (cinnamon, cloves, allspice, black pepper) or to omit spices altogether.
- If you do not have Chianti on hand, other medium-bodied, dry wines such as Sangiovese or Merlot will work well.
- The fresher the chestnuts, the shorter the cooking time. In other words, if your chestnuts are not fresh, allow for more cooking time.
Joëlle
Serves 4
A delicious alternative to roasted chestnuts, to warm you up on a cold evening
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Ingredients
- 1 lb. fresh chestnuts
- 1 cup Chianti (or other dry red wine)
- 2 fresh bay leaves
- 1 long pepper (optional)
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Soak chestnuts in a bowl of lukewarm water for 20 minutes to soften the shells.
- Place one chestnut on its flat side, and, using the tip of a pairing knife, cut a couple of shallow slits through the shell over the bulging side of the chestnut. Make each slit roughly perpendicular to one another, forming an X shaped-incision. Repeat with all chestnuts.
- Put the chestnuts in a pot and add the wine, bay leaves and long pepper and salt.
- Turn the heat to medium and simmer, lid on, until the chestnuts are tender, 30-60 minutes depending on the freshness of the chestnuts.
- When the chestnuts are tender, remove the lid and keep simmering until the wine is reduced to a few tablespoons worth.
- Serve immediately, in a warm bowl, with an extra bowl to discard the shells, and a glass of the remaining wine.
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References
Falkowitz, M. (2011, April 28). Spice Hunting: Long Pepper. Serious Eats. Retrieved from https://www.seriouseats.com/2011/04/spice-hunting-long-pepper-piper-longum-java-bali-indonesian-indian.html
Hazan, M., & Kretschmann, K. (2017). Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Rahiman, B. A., & Nair, M. K. (1987). The Genus Piper Linn. in Karnataka, India. The Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 84(1), 66–83.
Toussaint-Samat, M. (2009). A History of Food. Chichester, West Sussex, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell.
