Coyans in the Czech Republic

Everything You See Is Not Food...

or, If You're Not Sure, Google It!

Edible Chestnuts

Poisonous Horse Chestnuts

Yesterday we went to the forest to gather chestnuts which are in abundance here. I was excited to roast them like the song says..."chestnuts roasting by the fire". We have never eaten roasted chestnuts before so we were looking forward to the experience. We had a picnic in a meadow in the forest and then hunted for chestnuts. They grow in these spongy casings that are green and spiky...sort of like Star Trek fruit, if you know what I mean. When you open the casing they are a glistening brown with a defined wood grain appearance. Totally gorgeous. Well, after collecting a sampling we went home to roast them. Roxanne had looked up the roasting instructions on the internet so we were prepared. After roasting, there was a strange smell emanating from the oven. I took them out and, as instructed, squished them in a towel. The meat inside was green and smelly. I took a bite and it was disgusting, bitter and horrid. It left a terrible taste in my mouth. Roxie aslo tried it, taking a big bite and soon she was gagging...so we decided to see if we could trick Dan into eating one. He was suspicious and chose wisely not to imbibe. They were so foul tasting that I thought these couldn't possibly the chestnuts that were so delectable they have been immortalized in song. So, I looked them up on the internet hoping to see pictures of the chestnuts we had eaten. Poisonous horse chestnuts! Comfortingly written was, "won't kill you, just will make your really sick". So we waited...among the symptoms listed were vomiting and paralysis...we waited...nothing was mentioned about amount of consumption...waiting still...

So today we are OK...I am super glad!!! Next time I will google stuff I find in the forest before eating it!