| Photo Information |
| Copyright: Katarzyna Ziolkowska (Quivien) (44) |
| Genre: Plants |
| Medium: Color |
| Date Taken: 2006-09-22 |
| Categories: Trees |
| Exposure: f/4.5, 1/40 seconds |
| More Photo Info: [view] |
| Photo Version: Original Version |
| Theme(s): Edible [view contributor(s)] |
| Date Submitted: 2007-01-20 14:20 |
| Viewed: 1024 |
| Points: 0 |
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| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
I really like these littles "vegetable hedgehogs" as I call the fruits of sweet chestnut. We don't find much of them in Poland and the first time I tried them was in France.
From wikipedia:
The Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa, family Fagaceae), also known as the Spanish Chestnut, is a species of chestnut native to southeastern Europe and Asia Minor. It is a medium-sized to large deciduous tree attaining a height of 20-35 m with a trunk often 2 m in diameter. The oblong-lanceolate, boldly toothed leaves are 16-28 cm long and 5-9 cm broad.
Sweet Chestnut is widely cultivated for its edible nuts. As early as Roman times it was introduced into more northerly regions, and later it was cultivated in monastery gardens by monks. Today, centuries-old specimens may be found in Great Britain and the whole of central and western Europe. The nuts, which are very tasty, are used by confectioners and are also eaten roasted. They are popular in France, Italy and particularly in Corsica. They may be roasted whole or ground to make flour. The Corsican variety of polenta (called pulenta) is made with sweet chestnut flour. A local variety of Corsican beer also uses chesnuts as one of its added ingredients.
The durable wood is used to make furniture, barrels (sometimes used to age balsamic vinegar), fencing and roof beams in houses of the Alpujarra, Spain; due to its tendency to split and warp badly, it is not used in large pieces. The bark also provides tannin. |
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