Vegetables
Some vegetables, such as potatoes, zucchini, pumpkin, turnips, parsnips, cauliflower, asparagus, squash, and peppers lend themselves to roasting as well. Roasted chestnuts are also a popular snack in winter.
Chestnut (Castanea), some species called chinkapin or chinquapin, is a genus of eight or nine species of deciduous trees and shrubs in the beech family Fagaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce The chestnut belongs to the same Fagaceae family as the oak and beech. There are four main species, commonly known as European, Chinese, Japanese and American chestnuts[4]: European species sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa) (also called "Spanish chestnut" in the US) is the only European species of chestnut, though successfully introduced to the Himalayas and other temperate parts of Asia. Unrelated, but externally similar species of Horse-chestnut are abundant around Europe. Asiatic species Castanea crenata (Japanese chestnut), Castanea mollissima (Chinese chestnut), Castanea davidii (China), Castanea henryi (Chinese chinkapin, also called Henry's chestnut – China) and Castanea seguinii (also called Seguin's chestnut - China). American species These include Castanea dentata (American chestnut - Eastern states), Castanea pumila (American- or Allegheny chinkapin, also known as "dwarf chestnut" - Eastern states), Castanea alnifolia (Southern states), Castanea ashei (Southern states), Castanea floridana (Southern states) and Castanea paupispina (Southern states).[5][6] Chestnuts should not be confused with horse chestnuts (genus Aesculus), which are unrelated to Castanea and are named for producing nuts of similar appearance but of no notable edibility. Nor should they be confused with water chestnut (family Cyperaceae), which are also unrelated to Castanea and are tubers of similar taste from an aquatic herbaceous plant.[7][8] Other trees commonly mistaken for the chestnut tree are the chestnut oak (Quercus prinus) and the American beech (Fagus grandifolia).[9][10] Female Sweet Chestnut flowers le Sweet Chestnut flowers The name Castanea is probably derived from the old name for the Sweet Chestnut, either in Latin[11] or in Ancient Greek. Another possible source of the name is the town of Kastania in Thessaly, Greece;[5] but it is more probable that the town took its name from the most common tree growing around it.[12] Among the Mediterranean climate zone, chestnut trees are rarer in Greece because the chalky soil is not conducive to the tree's growth. Kastania is located on one of the relatively few sedimentary or siliceous outcrops. They grow so abundantly there, that their presence would have determined the place's name.[13] Still others take the name as coming from the Greek name of Sardis glans (Sardis acorn) – Sardis being the capital of Lydia, Asia Minor, wherefrom the fruit had spread.[14] The tree's names are virtually identical in all the most ancient languages of Central Europe: in Breton kistinen for the tree, and kistin for its fruit, in Welsh castan-wydden and sataen, in Dutch kastanje for both the tree and its fruit, in Albanian geshtenje, and many others close to the French chataigne and to the Latin name chosen for the genus.[12] The name is cited twice in the King James Version of the Bible. In one instance, Jacob puts peeled twigs in the water troughs to promote healthy offspring of his livestock.[15] Although it may indicate another tree, all indicates that that fruit was a local staple food at that time.[12] The following synonyms are or have been in use: Fagus castanea (used by Linnaeus in first edition of Species Plantarum, 1753).[16] Sardian nut. Jupiter's nut. Husked nut. Spanish Chestnut (U.S.) Chestnut trees are of moderate growth rate (for the Chinese chestnut tree) to fast-growing for American and European species.[17] Their mature heights vary from the smallest species of chinkapins, often shrubby,[18] to the giant of past American forests, Castanea dentata that could reach 60 m. In between these extremes are found the Japanese chestnut (Castanea crenata) at 10 m average;[Note 1] followed by the Chinese Chestnut (Castanea mollissima) at about 15 m, then the European chestnut (Castanea sativa) around 30 m.[10] The Chinese and more so the Japanese chestnuts are both often multileadered and wide-spreading,[10] whereas European and especially American species tend to grow very erect when planted among others, with little tapering of their columnar trunk, which is firmly set and massive. When standing on their own, they spread on the sides and develop broad, rounded, dense crowns at maturity.[17] The two latter's foliage has striking yellow autumn colouring.[20]