Description

• Regular chestnuts are a nut from a chestnut tree. Some trees grow over 100 feet tall with a trunk 5 to 10 feet in diameter. They are dense shade trees with dark green leaves. One to three nuts are enclosed in a prickly covering that requires leather gloves to handle. Inside, nuts have smooth shells. Water chestnut plants are grasslike with tubular green stems that grow about 3 to 4 feet tall. The corms, or edible part, are rounded and white on the inside. The plant spreads by multiplying rhizomes that creep slowly. Corms form on rhizomes under the water in soil and are 1 to 2 inches in diameter with a brown covering on the outside.
  
  

History

• Forests in eastern North America were heavily composed of chestnut trees with nuts as a food staple for settlers; the wood was used to build homes and cities during the late 19th century. Families in Appalachia made a living selling chestnuts, and the nuts were an important food for wildlife and livestock. A blight from Asia decimated all chestnut trees in the East. Some trees survived in the West and today new varieties are being developed that are resistant to the active blight. Water chestnuts are native to China and also grow in India, Japan and the Philippines where the climate is warm. Some varieties do not have a sweet flavor and are grown as food for livestock. Those suitable for human consumption have been a source of food for hundreds of years.
  
  

Growing and Storing

• Chestnut trees should be grown in well-drained soils, as the roots will rot in soggy soil. Nuts begin to form in about four years, falling to the ground when ripe. Nuts are air dried for several days then stored in the refrigerator or cooked and placed in sealed jars in the refrigerator up to two months or frozen up to 12 months. Water chestnuts require wet, flooded conditions and are drained at harvest much like in a rice paddy. The fruit is stored in the refrigerator in plastic bags keeping them moist. Commercially, water chestnuts are bagged and sold fresh or canned.
  
  

Uses

• Regular chestnuts are used in cooking. Roast by marking an X on the flat side through the shell into the meat with a sharp knife and roast in the oven or over a fire. Boil chestnuts with just enough water to cover or steam in a steamer. Nuts are commonly added to casseroles and stuffing or are eaten individually. Water chestnuts are crisp even when cooked. They have a sweet flavor and are eaten raw in salads and cooked in stir-fries. In Asia, they are made into a drink.