Chestnuts: Swiss cultural heritage is enjoying a revival Once a basic foodstuff, and now a tourist attraction: sweet chestnuts may no longer be as important as they once were to the Swiss economy, but they are currently enjoying a cultural comeback. EVA HIRSCHI “Hot chestnuts! Get your hot chestnuts here!” comes the familiar cry from the small brown huts in side streets during the cold months, as the scent of charcoal-roasted sweet chestnuts fills the air. Even if this mental image is integral to how we think of winter in Switzerland and we cannot imagine the season without vermicelles, chestnut soup and caramelised chestnuts, only around 100 tonnes of these nuts actually come from Switzerland. As much as 2,500 tonnes are imported, mainly from Italy but also from Portugal, Spain and France. The chestnut nonetheless has a long tradition in Switzerland. Until the 19th century, it was an important part of people’s diets. In the southern Alpine valleys, Ticino and Valais in particular, it was grown and either ground into flour, dried or roasted in a pan. Its high nutritional value and low price earned it a reputation as “the bread of the poor”. The sweet chestnut, brought to Switzerland by the Romans, is one of the oldest crop plants in Europe. The arrival of the potato in the 19th century, however, saw it lose its economic significance. Pale chestnut groves do however still dot the Swiss countryside today. A lot of work to maintain “Hundreds of hectares of groves have already disappeared in Switzerland,” says Patrick Schoeck, Head of Baukultur at the Swiss Heritage Society. Chestnut trees were often cut down to turn the land into pastureland or fields. Some, on the other hand, are allowed to grow wild. This is because chestnut trees need intensive maintenance and a lot of work. “It is often not worth the farmer’s while,” says Schoeck. Several local initiatives were launched in Ticino in the 1980s to avoid losing this cultural heritage entirely and to prevent chestnut Swiss Review / January 2023 / No.1 14 Nature and the environment
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