It is very rare to see this type of coal fired stove anywhere in the World, let alone at a farmer’s market in the inner west of Sydney. It is also extremely rare to find an enthusiast with an urge to
roast up a few kilos of chestnuts for complete strangers to try and enjoy!
Yet on the 18th of May 2013, our gentleman friend (whom has fond memories as a boy of this street food from Palermo), decided to do just that – bring in his home-made, coal fired chestnut stove and roast up some white coated chestnuts, which originated from his birth place of Sicily, Italy.
At first glance, the stove resembles a 3 stage rocket without the nose tip or flight fins. The bottom is the first stage and supports a grate inside on which the coal sits on. It also has an opening below the grate to allow not only air to rush in for the combustion process to occur but it is also the area where you light the stubborn coal from, which in this case is using a blow torch.
That’s right, I said coal – actually the correct term is coking coal (coke), which is created by baking mineral coal, which comes from the ground, in an airless furnace (pyrolysed) leaving behind mostly carbon matter in the process. Basically what you get left is a rock like substance which burns and produces little to no smoke as well as leaving little sulfur residue behind once it is ignited and burnt as a fuel.
You just do not find coke fired stoves or heaters anymore. Possibly due to the fact that the fuel itself does leave you with a mess when handling it. The cleaner gas and electricity stoves and heaters have for a long time totally replaced coke burning combustion apparatus.
Today coking coal is predominately used in industry as a fuel for furnaces in metal work and there is no real demand anymore for coking coal in the domestic sense. Surprisingly, the coking coal used on the day had a big advantage over wood based charcoal fuel – the coke just burned much, much longer.
Coincidentally, the popular compressed bead charcoal which is the leading type of charcoal used in the barbecue home market, does have a percentage of brown mineral coal included. Some may even have struggled lighting their bead charcoal and may have also notice a slight odor when lighting. That is due to the fact that the bead charcoal contains compressed pyrolysed sawdust, brown coal, binder and an oxidizer to assist in igniting it all.
However in this case coking coal on its own is somewhat much more difficult to light using standard firelighters or even a chimney starter for that matter. A blow torch together with some bits of wood helped to get the fire eventually started.
The middle section tube is really there to give some distance between the heat generated by the coke at the bottom stage grate and the roasting level at the top which has another grate for the chestnuts to sit on. This top section where all the chestnuts sit on and can be lifted off
separately once the chestnuts are ready.
Am not really sure why they have come up with such a length of tube in the middle part but my guess is it may have to do with creating a funnel effect which also allows heat to concentrate and build up, very much like what happens in an oven. The purpose of which is not to cook the chestnuts faster but to have enough heat built up so that when you throw a hand full of salt in the top, it all becomes vaporized sending a white plume of smoke past the roasting chestnuts.
Once you add salt, it falls down and onto the coal, sending up a light salty smell in its smoke that reminds me of ocean spray on a beach.
Amazingly, the fine salt sticks to the outer shell of the chestnuts leaving them a white coat which adds to a more of a savory flavor to the creamy flesh inside. Hence why they are called white chestnuts.
Once done the top stage is taken off and the roasted chestnuts are placed in a tray for serving. Quite an interesting method and thank you to our friend here whom felt he wanted to share this tradition with us.
For those that have never tried roasted chestnuts these are the tips you should observe when eating them.
1 – watch out as they may be very hot to handle. Great to keep in your pocket on a cold day. Always go for the ones that have been prior cut through the woody shell as they will be the easiest to peel.
2- peal them before eating. Don’t try biting through the shell (I saw a few people on the day just putting them straight in to their mouths!). Surprising how many people have never ever tried a roasted chestnut.
3- make sure you don’t eat any with dark spots of fermented flesh. When you peel, best to smell and look at it first before eating. Unfortunately some chestnuts do go rotten and you can’t really tell until you peal them. They leave a funny taste in your mouth which is not going to kill you or make you sick, its just an unpleasant taste.
4- If they are chewy or a bit hard like chalk then its still not cooked through. You can eat it but it tastes better when the texture inside is a bit more soft and tender.
To do this at home is somewhat difficult but you can enjoy chestnuts by simply roasting them in your oven or on the stove top. You won’t be able to get the white surface coat but having them roasted with no additives is still a great way to enjoy them. Best to get yourself a perforated chestnut pan or tumbler for optimal results if you like to roast chestnuts at home!
