Sweet chestnuts are believed to have originated in Spain, hence they're also known as Spanish chestnuts. They grow in clusters enclosed in a spiny case. With so many chestnut trees growing the the Limousin and Charente, you can easily collect a bag of chestnuts in no time at all and, if you’re lucky, you’ll probably have a sweet chestnut tree growing in your own garden.

Sweet chestnuts are delicious roasted over hot coals, or can be used in all sorts of delicious dishes ( dessert recipe.). Chestnuts have a high starch content so in Europe they're often made into flour and used for cakes and in Corsica they use chestnut flour to make polenta. Here in France they're preserved in sugar as marrons glacés.