No. 712

Puree of Chestnuts

Puree de Marrons

Peel one pound of chestnuts, plunge them into boiling water so as to remove the inner skin, then lay them in a saucepan, and moisten them to their height with white broth (No. 189), adding a stalk of celery. Cook them with the lid on over a moderate fire, and when soft, and the broth entirely reduced, pound them in a mortar with two ounces of butter, seasoning with a little salt and sugar; pass this puree through a hair or tinned brass sieve (iron sieve should not be used for passing purees) and return it to the saucepan to heat without ceasing to stir, but at the same time watching that it does not boil, beat in a little veloute (No. 415) and cream.

← No. 711 Puree of Celery, Celery Knobs and Cardoons Garnishings No. 713 Puree of Chicken →

For the Modern Kitchen

A straightforward chestnut puree from Ranhofer's The Epicurean, written for a brigade kitchen with stock and veloute already on hand. Two substitutions make it workable at home.

The two skinsChestnuts have a glossy outer shell and a tight, bitter inner pellicle. Score each shell with an X, then boil or roast briefly and peel both layers while the nuts are still hot; once they cool the pellicle clings and will ruin the texture. Vacuum-packed peeled chestnuts, about 12 oz for this quantity, skip the whole business.
White brothRanhofer's No. 189 is one of his white stocks, cross-referenced here rather than reprinted. A light chicken stock works; use low-sodium, since the puree is reduced almost dry and any salt in the liquid concentrates.
VelouteNo. 415 is a white stock thickened with a blond roux. A tablespoon or two of a quick veloute, or simply cream alone, will loosen the puree without making it taste of flour.
"Moisten to their height"Add just enough broth to come level with the top of the chestnuts, not to cover them deeply. The broth is meant to vanish entirely into the nuts by the time they are soft, roughly 25 to 35 minutes.
Why no iron sieveChestnuts contain tannins, and contact with iron can turn a puree grey and metallic. Stainless steel, nylon or a food mill solves the problem Ranhofer answered with tinned brass. A blender gives a gummier result than a mill or sieve.
Do not boil the finished pureeThe recipe is explicit about this. Once the butter, veloute and cream are in, boiling can make the puree separate or turn grainy. Reheat over low heat, stirring constantly.
Salt and sugarThe recipe calls for only 'a little' of each; roughly a teaspoon of sugar suits a pound. Taste before adding more.
YieldAbout 2 cups, serving six to eight as a garnish alongside game, turkey or braised meats. Thin with warm cream if it stiffens as it stands.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer ran the kitchen at Delmonico's in New York and published The Epicurean in 1894 as a complete record of that kitchen's repertoire, which is why this entry sits in a section of garnishings and cross-references numbered stocks and sauces rather than standing alone. Puree de marrons belongs to the French service tradition in which a smooth vegetable or nut puree was spooned beside roast game and poultry, and the distinction the name preserves is a real one: marron in French usage means the large, single-kernelled chestnut prized for confectionery and puree, as against the smaller multi-kernelled chataigne. Chestnuts were an autumn staple across southern Europe long before they became a garnish for luxury restaurant cooking. The instruction against iron sieves is a reminder that Ranhofer's cooks worked with tinned copper and brass, and that discolouration from reactive metal was a daily professional concern rather than a curiosity.