Briottet Crème de Châtaigne (Chestnut) Liqueurs 70 cl

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Boil the chestnuts until they become soft, then let them cool and peel them. Immerse them in the liquor and let them macerate while covered tightly for about 20 days. After this period, prepare a syrup by dissolving the sugar in boiling water. Let it cool, then add it to the filtered liquor. Either all or part of the chestnuts can be pureed and added to the liqueur to make it very creamy. The classic, lightweight chestnut liqueur Besides being onerous, the shelling can be bloody. You must be careful not to let the knife slip. Eventually I put a plaster on my right forefinger and this helped enormously. Once it’s ready, fine strain to remove the solids and store in a swing top glass bottle in a dark and cool place until required.

As described in the last chestnut post, use a small bladed knife. Start at the tip and work down towards the base, choosing the flatter side of the nut. The rest of the shell peels away easily if you can remove the base of the nut first. Place in a cool and dark spot, and give the jar a gentle roll every 2 days until it’s ready. It takes a minimum of 4 to 6 weeks. Taste as you go to ensure it’s to your liking. Veronica on Working hard on the cottage We are still happily settled in our little house in France, but have taken to spending a few months in Spain in the winter. At first we tried differen… Sweet chestnuts, either native or imported, are scandalously under-appreciated by the British. As the 17th century writer and gardener Evelyn laments: "But we give that fruit to our swine in England, which is amongst the delicacies of princes in other countries". Take chestnut flour; it's useful for making chestnut macaroons, florentines and, since it adds flavour instead of taking it away as flour tends to do, I use it in a roux when making sauces and soups.Fiona Nevile on Fiona’s traditional elderflower cordial recipe Hi Peta, Yes it does ferment a little = that is what you want. Simmering would kill the brew. Don’t cut through the chestnut while making a slit, only the skin. You want the heat to penetrate and steam cook the nut. Maison Briottet is a family business, founded in 1836, and has been run by the 6th generation of the Briottet family, Claire and Vincent, since 2014. The Maison is located in the centre of the town of Dijon in the Burgundy wine-growing region. Originally, the family were negociants of Burgundy wine, involved with ageing, blending, bottling and selling the wines. Following the development, and massive popularity of the Blanc Cassis Aperitif (white wine with Crème de Cassis also known as a Kir), in the 1900s, the company progressively focused its activities on producing fruit crèmes, liquors, brandies and Marcs de Bourgogne.

In a small saucepan, bring the demerara sugar and water to the boil. Simmer for two minutes then leave to cool.

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Fiona Nevile on Working hard on the cottage Dear Veronica, So good to hear from you. I'd love to hear all your news - I often think about you and wonder how it's going for you both... Yes, it's… While roasting chestnuts in a hot oven or griller works well, cooking them over fire or charcoal yields a more pronounced smoky note which adds flavour to the liqueur. Lila Wiese on Perennial vegetables: Tree cabbage Maybe I missed someone stating this but is it possible to obtain seeds for this in the US? The promise of this had Danny sitting, knife and chestnut in hand, for a good hour and a half last night. Shelling chestnuts is a bore. It’s fiddly. It’s very frustrating if you have bought a batch with a few bad ones as you can’t tell the state of the kernel within from the external appearance of the nut. But if you can tempt someone to help you, and have something distracting to listen to on the radio, it is well worth the effort.