Chestnut pie is a

pie A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit (as in an apple pie), nuts ( pecan pie), brown sugar ( sugar pie), swe ...

prepared with

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. The unrelat ...

s as a primary ingredient. It is a part of the

cuisine of Italy Italian cuisine (, ) is a Mediterranean cuisine David 1988, Introduction, pp.101–103 consisting of the ingredients, recipes and cooking techniques developed across the Italian Peninsula and later spread around the world together with waves ...

, where it has been documented as dating back to the 15th century. It is also a part of the

cuisine of the Southern United States The cuisine of the Southern United States encompasses diverse food traditions of several regions, including Tidewater, Appalachian, Lowcountry, Cajun, Creole, and Floribbean cuisine. In recent history, elements of Southern cuisine have sprea ...

. Shelled whole or chopped chestnuts may be used, which may be boiled or roasted. A chestnut

purée A purée (or mash) is cooked food, usually vegetables, fruits or legumes, that has been ground, pressed, blended or sieved to the consistency of a creamy paste or liquid. Purées of specific foods are often known by specific names, e.g., apples ...

may also be used. It may be prepared as a savory or sweet pie.

History

Chestnut pie has been documented back to the 15th century in Italy, in the book ''

De honesta voluptate et valetudine ''De honesta voluptate et valetudine'' (''On honest indulgence and good health'', often shortened to ''De honesta voluptate'') was the first cookbook ever printed. Written ca. 1465 by Bartolomeo Platina, it first appeared between 1470 and 1475 in ...

'' ("On honourable pleasure and health") written by the Italian writer and gastronomist

Bartolomeo Platina Bartolomeo Sacchi (; 1421 – 21 September 1481), known as Platina (in Italian ''il Platina'' ) after his birthplace (Piadena), and commonly referred to in English as Bartolomeo Platina, was an Italian Renaissance humanist writer and gastro ...

. Platina's recipe, titled ''torta ex castaneís'', called for the use of boiled and ground chestnuts in the pie. The chestnuts were ground using a

mortar and pestle Mortar and pestle is a set of two simple tools used from the Stone Age to the present day to prepare ingredients or substances by crushing and grinding them into a fine paste or powder in the kitchen, laboratory, and pharmacy. The ''mortar'' () ...

, milk was added and then the mixture was strained. After this step, the ingredients for a

spelt Spelt (''Triticum spelta''), also known as dinkel wheat or hulled wheat, is a species of wheat that has been cultivated since approximately 5000 BC. Spelt was an important staple food in parts of Europe from the Bronze Age to medieval times. No ...

tart A tart is a baked dish consisting of a filling over a pastry base with an open top not covered with pastry. The pastry is usually shortcrust pastry; the filling may be sweet or savoury, though modern tarts are usually fruit-based, sometimes with ...

were added. The use of

saffron Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of ''Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma and styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent i ...

was recommended to add coloration to the dish. In the 16th century, the pie was prepared and documented by

Bartolomeo Scappi Bartolomeo Scappi (c. 1500 – 13 April 1577) was a famous Italian Renaissance chef. His origins had been the subject of speculation, but recent research shows that he came from the town of Dumenza in Lombardy, according to the inscription on ...

in his 1570 book ''Opera dell'arte del cucinare'', which was focused upon Italian

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

cuisine A cuisine is a style of cooking characterized by distinctive ingredients, techniques and dishes, and usually associated with a specific culture or geographic region. Regional food preparation techniques, customs, and ingredients combine to ...

. The recipe included the use of dried and fresh chestnuts in the pie. Scappi's recipe recommended using chestnuts that were not entirely ripened, gathered in August. An 1858 recipe for sweet chestnut pie uses chestnuts glazed with orange flowers, in the dish's preparation, which are placed inside the pie. A 1908 recipe for a savory chestnut pie uses shelled chestnuts, Spanish onion, haricot

stock In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...

, salt and pepper.

Savory chestnut pie

Savory chestnut pie may be prepared with various additional ingredients such as mushrooms, garlic onion, celery,

leek The leek is a vegetable, a cultivar of ''Allium ampeloprasum'', the broadleaf wild leek ( syn. ''Allium porrum''). The edible part of the plant is a bundle of leaf sheaths that is sometimes erroneously called a stem or stalk. The genus ''Alli ...

s and

butternut squash Butternut squash ('' Cucurbita moschata''), known in Australia and New Zealand as butternut pumpkin or gramma, is a type of winter squash that grows on a vine. It has a sweet, nutty taste similar to that of a pumpkin. It has tan-yellow skin an ...

, among others. A 1915 recipe uses boiled and shelled chestnuts, canned mushrooms, a

white sauce White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

and a

biscuit A biscuit is a flour-based baked and shaped food product. In most countries biscuits are typically hard, flat, and unleavened. They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar, chocolate, icing, jam, ginger, or cinnamon. They can also be ...

dough in preparation of the dish.

Sweet chestnut pie

Sweet chestnut pie may be prepared as a

cream pie A cream pie, crème pie, or creme pie is a type of pie filled with a rich custard or pudding that is made from milk, cream, sugar, wheat flour, and eggs. It comes in many forms, including vanilla, lemon, lime, peanut butter, banana, coconut, a ...

. Chocolate may be used as an ingredient in sweet chestnut pie. It may be served topped with whipped cream.

Notes

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite book , last=Costigan , first=F. , title=Vegan Chocolate , publisher=Perseus Books Group , year=2013 , isbn=978-0-7624-4591-2 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sY_8AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA160 , page=160 {{cite book , last=Phillips , first=D. , title=The Gourmet Jewish Cookbook: More than 200 Recipes from Around the World , publisher=St. Martin's Press , year=2014 , isbn=978-1-4668-4607-4 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RO9uAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA163 , page=163 {{cite book , last1=West , first1=P. , last2=Chew , first2=M. , last3=Fearnley-Whittingstall , first3=H. , title=The River Cottage Australia Cookbook , publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing , year=2015 , isbn=978-1-4088-5840-0 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j0O9BgAAQBAJ&pg=PT461 , page=461 {{cite book , last=Allinson , first=T.R. , title=The Allinson Vegetarian Cookery Book , publisher=Bod Third Party Titles , year=2010 , isbn=978-3-86195-179-7 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H704Piff8zcC&pg=PA23 , pages=23–24 {{cite book , last1=Montanari , first1=M. , last2=Brombert , first2=B.A. , title=Medieval Tastes: Food, Cooking, and the Table , publisher=Columbia University Press , series=Arts and Traditions of the Table: Perspe , year=2015 , isbn=978-0-231-53908-1 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6XwyBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA115 , page=115 {{cite book , title=Viaggio in Toscana. Alla scoperta dei prodotti tipici. Ediz. inglese , publisher=Giunti Editore , series=Progetti educativi , year=2001 , isbn=978-88-09-02453-3 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d6OLiLW8xksC&pg=PA137 , page=137 {{cite book , author=Pennsylvania Nut Growers' Association, title=The Nut Kernel , issue=v. 24-31 , year=1972 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oDENAQAAMAAJ&q=Chestnut+Pie+Ingredients%22 {{cite book , last=Black , first=G. , title=A Manual of Vegetarian Cookery , publisher=Horace Marshall , year=1908 , url=https://archive.org/details/amanualvegetari00blacgoog , pag
36
} {{cite book , author=Bryan, M.C. , title=Mrs. Rowe's Little Book of Southern Pies , publisher=Potter/TenSpeed/Harmony , year=2011 , isbn=978-1-60774-135-0 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S39_7Fyzg4EC&pg=PA53 , page=53 {{cite book , last1=Publishing , first1=Anness , last2=McFadden , first2=C. , last3=France , first3=C. , title=Chocolate , publisher=Anness Publishing , year=2000 , isbn=978-1-84309-068-7 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eHbrQthoNEkC&q=%22Chestnut+pie%22 , page=162 {{cite book , title=The household encyclopædia; or, Family dictionary of everything connected with housekeeping and domestic medicine, by an association of heads of families and men of science , year=1858 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wQIUAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA283 , accessdate=April 4, 2016 , page=283, last1=Encyclopaedia , first1=Household {{cite book , title=Good Health , publisher=Good Health Publishing Company , issue=v. 50 , year=1915 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KEE5AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA570 , page=570 {{cite web , last=Berry , first=Vava , title=The new vegetarian: butternut-squash and chestnut pie , website=The Telegraph , date=December 12, 2013 , url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/recipes/10509082/The-new-vegetarian-butternut-squash-and-chestnut-pie.html , accessdate=April 4, 2016 Chestnut dishes Cuisine of the Southern United States Italian cuisine Pies Sweet pies Savoury pies

History

Savory chestnut pie

Sweet chestnut pie

See also

Notes

References