Diet Healthy chestnuts contain little fat

In many markets in the Mediterranean countries and in the German wine-growing regions, chestnut trees are on the way in the autumn with their mobile ovens and offer sweet chestnuts. Freshly roasted, they are considered a delicacy. At the latest on the Christmas markets, the hot nut fruits are also available in the rest of Germany.

Sweet chestnuts are more than a snack. Previously, thanks to abundant starch, they were considered staple foods. Today they have become a delicious side dish. The variety of edible chestnut varieties is roughly divided into two groups: Genuine chestnuts are considered to be particularly noble. They are recognizable by their heart-like shape with a triangular underside and by their reddish-brown shell with dark stripes. Ordinary sweet chestnuts are much larger and have a roundish, one-sided flattened dark brown skin.

Little fat, but very tasty: sweet chestnuts. Picture: A_Lein - fotolia

Raw all chestnuts have a slightly nutty, but very subtle taste. Only when heated, when the contained starch is converted into sugar, the typical pleasantly sweet aroma develops. The enjoyment, however, one has to work out a little: First, the hard shells are cut with a sharp knife crosswise to the curved side. Then the fruits either on a plate ten to fifteen minutes at 200 degrees in the oven or five minutes in bubbly boiling water. Then the now outwardly curved shell is removed, the inner skin as well. Whether cooked or roasted - from hand to mouth, chestnuts taste just as delicious as a side dish with venison, stuffed with poultry, a soup base or even a creamy mousse.

Completely wrongly, the delicious nut fruits have fallen into disrepute as fattening. In fact, they can score with a whole host of valuable ingredients. "Sweet chestnuts contain more than 40 percent carbohydrates and just under 50 percent water, but only about two percent fat. This makes them by far the lowest in fat nuts, "says Harald Seitz, nutritionist at aid infodienst. 100 grams cover almost a third of the daily requirement of fiber, but only account for about 200 calories. "Here you can gossip without remorse."

From September to March, fresh produce comes mainly from Turkey, Spain, Italy and the south of France, but also from southern Germany to the local weekly markets and the retail trade. In open baskets or boxes and in a cool, dry room, fresh chestnuts can be stored for about three months. If you have an appetite for chestnuts out of season, you can grab deep-frozen or preserved chestnuts from the tin, glass or vacuum bag. (Eva Neumann, aid)