Roasted chestnut


Roasted chestnut is a popular autumn and winter street food in East Asia, Europe, and New York City. Asian chestnuts as well as European chestnuts can be used.

Asia

China

In China, chǎolìzi is a popular autumn street food. Because they are roasted with sand and sweet syrup, they are also called tángchǎolìzi.

Korea

Gunbam is a popular street food in both North and South Korea. The food is sold from late autumn to winter by the vendors wearing ushanka, which is sometimes referred to as "roasted chestnut vendor hat" or "roasted sweet potato vendor hat". A popular folk song called Gunbam taryeong was composed by Jeon Su-rin in 1932, and has been sung since, being one of the songs commonly taught in public schools in South Korea.

Europe and New York City

Portugal

Roasted chestnuts are popular street food in Portugal. Called castanhas assadas in Portuguese, it is sold around November, when Dia de São Martinho is celebrated across the country. Traditionally, newly harvested chestnuts are eaten around a bonfire on this day.

New York City

Roasted chestnuts are sold as street food primarily in Manhattan. Though they've been sold regularly for well over a century, the major consumers are primarily tourists, not residents. Once common, they've become less so. They're sold starting either at the beginning of autumn, or when the first chill sets in – about the end of September, or early October, until early spring. The few vendors who currently sell them say they mostly sell to tourists around the Christmas holidays.

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