Product Description
Okay – this is a little weird, but . . . . well, truth is we don’t HAVE an entirely chestnut based thing to offer you yet. Up here, we just EAT them – boiled, roasted, whatever. Well, and sell them to Europe for a (mentioned elsewhere) pittance. October isn’t October without pocketfuls of chestnuts. And Tropoja hosts the one of the biggest chestnut forests in Europe, apparently.
So! We at JtoV are trying to figure out what the heck else we could do with them. You know, to keep some at the shop, for a while? This is WHY I have just spent the day boiling chestnuts – with bay leaves out of the garden (and okay, a stick of cinnamon – NOT from here. Cheat!). It’s taken me HOURS to boil and peel half a kilo. And my fingers hurt. If you have any idea what we could do, feel free to drop a message. At the moment we’re thinking – jars of chestnut cream? Frozen cooked and peeled chestnuts? CHOCOLATE COVERED chestnut puree truffles??? (Not even faintly traditional, but . . . ).
Anyhow, watch this spot to see what we come up with. And if you’re hanging around town with nothing to do . . . join us for a peeling jam?
PS: ! At the end of the day, I have made a jar and a half of Tropoja’s first ever CHESTNUT CREAM! (kicked with a dash of Albania’s own Skenderbeg Konjak). Hardly seems economical, but . . . And yes, I’m pretty sure it’s the first EVER made here, cause everyone looks at me like I’m NUTS when I mention it . . . “Have you ever heard . . . ” Well, as I’m pretty sure Mark Mazower argued in some book called something like “The Balkans” (or something like that) – you THINK people here are quaint and old-fashioned, but in fact they’re adapting all the time! They’re just doing it along some kind of alternative culture line. And if that Alternative Line includes brandy-infused chestnut creme, well – HECK!
