Autumn's Treasures- Foraging Sweet Chestnuts
- victoria ward
- Sep 27
- 3 min read
These crisp autumn days are perfect for foraging and one seasonal delight you may come across on your foraging journeys are Sweet Chestnuts. These little gems are packed full of health benefits and delicious to boot, they are great for gut health and have medicinal value too. Sweet Chestnuts are the fruit of Castanea sativa or Sweet Chestnut Tree which is beautiful and incredibly long living tree. These lovely trees were first brought to our shores by the Romans and have been valued as a foodstuff and medicine throughout history. Foraging Sweet Chestnuts is a great way to get some free, healthy food.
How To Identify Sweet Chestnuts
These beautiful trees have an exotic look to them with long serrated glossy leaves. In the summer they produce long jungly flowers. The chestnuts themselves are encased in a prickly shell which you will need gloves to handle comfortably. Inside the prickles are encased the hard, shiny conker-like nuts.
When To Go Foraging Sweet Chestnuts
Right now marks the beginning of the season for harvesting these, starting at the end of September to mid November. Look for the spiky casements or burs turning from brown to green and beginning to split open. Usually, the ripened ones have fallen from the tree and can be picked from the ground. As mentioned above, gloves are necessary for handling these prickly characters.
How To Store Sweet Chestnuts
They will keep in the fridge for about a month. They can be peeled, lightly blanched then frozen for up to a year. You may peel and dry them for later rehydration.
Are Sweet Chestnuts Good For You?
Sweet Chestnuts have long been considered important to human nutrition as they are higher in carbohydrates than any other nut, low in fat and cholesterol and gluten free. Nutritionally they have the following -
Protein rich
High in dietary fibre
Good source of many vitamins and minerals
High in antioxidant compounds
Phenolic compounds
Source of 'healthy' fats
Sweet Chestnuts and Gut Health
These provide an excellent source of prebiotic fibre and short-chain fatty acids. They are thought to help prevent obesity as they adjust the gut microbiome.
Do Sweet Chestnuts Have Any Medicinal Uses?
Sweet Chestnut is one of the Bach Flower Remedies, here are Bach's own words to describe the emotional/mental state for which Sweet Chestnut would be indicated-
'For those moments which happen to some people when the anguish is so great as to seem to be unbearable. When the mind or body feels as if it had borne to the uttermost limit of its endurance, and that now it must give way. When it seems there is nothing but destruction and annihilation left to face.
– The Twelve Healers and Other Remedies'
Sweet Chestnuts have been valued since Roman times, mainly as a food source. There is documentation that the Romans made use of the medicinal properties of Sweet Chestnuts including using chestnut honey for treating wounds.
(Grieve,1931) notes usage for fevers, as a tonic, astringent and for coughs.
(Culpeper, 1663)
"The fruit breeds good blood and yields commendable nourishment"
Culpeper, the famous 17th century herbalist recommended Sweet Chestnuts be dried, powdered and mixed with honey as a treatment for irritable coughs.
How To Cook Sweet Chestnuts
Usually they are roasted or boiled. To roast, take a knife and make a cross or slit in the nut to prevent explosions and then roast in an open fire or on a baking tray for 20-30 mins in the oven. Slit them for boiling too and boil for a few minutes. Obviously cool before removing outer shells.
Sweet Chestnut Recipes
Sweet Chestnut Pesto
Ingredients
150g roasted and peeled chestnuts
3 cloves of peeled garlic
1 cup of mixed green leaves and herbs- I like to use rocket and basil, choose 1 leafy veg like spinach, kale, rocket or even nettle. Add basil, parsley or whichever herbs you fancy
1/2 cup parmesan grated
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
Method
Place everything in a mixing bowl or food processor, whizz up in processor or use a hand blender until well blended.
Click here for more Sweet Chestnut recipes.
Resource Recommendations
Affiliate Links - This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a small commission if you decide to make a purchase through any links. This is at no extra cost to you.
Websites
Books
Urquhart, Judy Food From the Wild
References
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9777662/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35777207/
Culpepper, Nicholas (1983) Culpeper's Colour Herbal
Grieve, Maud, and C. F. Leyel. A Modern Herbal: The Medicinal, Culinary, Cosmetic and Economic Properties, Cultivation and Folk-Lore of Herbs, Grasses, Fungi, Shrubs, & Trees with All Their Modern Scientific Uses. Harcourt, Brace & company, 1931.
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