1 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:09,520 Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Savor Protection of I Heart Radio 2 00:00:09,560 --> 00:00:12,000 Speaker 1: and Stuff Media. I'm Anneries and I'm Lauren vocal Baum 3 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:16,120 Speaker 1: and today we're talking about chestnuts. Yes, tis the season 4 00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:20,160 Speaker 1: for chestnuts. It is. Yeah. Yeah, that Nat King Cole 5 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:24,079 Speaker 1: song was a was a favorite on the holiday rotation 6 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:27,960 Speaker 1: in my house growing up. My main association with it 7 00:00:28,040 --> 00:00:30,920 Speaker 1: is it from the Show's Supernatural, which did a Christmas 8 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:33,720 Speaker 1: episode way back in their second season, which they're in 9 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:37,600 Speaker 1: their fifteen season out. You guys, so uh they have 10 00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:40,080 Speaker 1: that song and they're like, it's really dark because it's 11 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:43,080 Speaker 1: a scary show and there's violent Santa and it's playing 12 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:46,000 Speaker 1: that song. Really stuck with me. Oh that's yeah, I 13 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:49,640 Speaker 1: can see. Yeah, I'm making a feast that no one. Anyway, 14 00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:52,640 Speaker 1: I love that I watched every Christmas, but the actual 15 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:55,840 Speaker 1: food I do not have a lot of experience with. No. 16 00:00:57,040 --> 00:00:59,440 Speaker 1: The first time I had chest nuts was actually, I 17 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:02,640 Speaker 1: think too years ago when I was in Japan and 18 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:04,880 Speaker 1: it was October, and I remember because there was a 19 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:07,679 Speaker 1: lot of fun Halloween stuff. Yeah, and I was in 20 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:11,119 Speaker 1: this huge, huge, sprawling market in Kyoto. There are all 21 00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:16,160 Speaker 1: kinds of foods and snacks and roasted chestnuts were everywhere everywhere, 22 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:19,320 Speaker 1: so I tried one. I was like, okay, oh it 23 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:23,920 Speaker 1: was good. Yeah. It's actually one of the very very 24 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:27,759 Speaker 1: very few foods that I'm not fond of, particularly like 25 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:31,080 Speaker 1: they taste to like ploying and rich to me, Like 26 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:33,720 Speaker 1: there's like a sweetness and a richness. It's like too much. 27 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:37,000 Speaker 1: My brain is like, do not want um? Yeah? I 28 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:40,640 Speaker 1: don't know either, uh I yeah. My my parents we 29 00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:43,039 Speaker 1: we literally roasted some over an open fire when I 30 00:01:43,080 --> 00:01:47,080 Speaker 1: was um and I was like, what is this crap? Um? 31 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:49,760 Speaker 1: Like five year old me was not having it? Um. 32 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:52,640 Speaker 1: And yeah, as as an adult, I've tried some snacks 33 00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:55,440 Speaker 1: especially yeah, like I think Japanese snacks that have some 34 00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:58,880 Speaker 1: in it, and I've been like no, no, my. Although 35 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:01,160 Speaker 1: I did have a dish of Frabbi only over at 36 00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:04,920 Speaker 1: the Porter Beer Bar and a little five points anyone 37 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:07,640 Speaker 1: familiar with Atlanta that were filled with a chestnut mixture 38 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:11,679 Speaker 1: and those were fine, sounds good. I mean it was 39 00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:14,440 Speaker 1: also with like shaved brussel spreads and cranberries. It was 40 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:18,520 Speaker 1: like hard to go that I love, you know, I 41 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:21,800 Speaker 1: want to try them again. I'm curious if I would 42 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:24,519 Speaker 1: like to try them in the us and whatever people 43 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:26,480 Speaker 1: are doing around Christmas time. I want to know what 44 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:30,480 Speaker 1: that's about. Yeah, I'm willing, I'm willing. I'm willing to try. 45 00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:33,040 Speaker 1: I'm willing to try. I don't like it when I 46 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:34,919 Speaker 1: don't like food because I want to like everything I 47 00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:39,000 Speaker 1: want to eat. I'm the same. But okay, let's get 48 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:46,720 Speaker 1: to your question. Oh yeah, chestnuts, what are they? Well? 49 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:50,519 Speaker 1: Chest nuts are they name of both a few species 50 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:53,680 Speaker 1: of a temperate deciduous trees and their nuts in the 51 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:57,800 Speaker 1: genus castania um. The four major species are the European 52 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:00,360 Speaker 1: which is cis of tiva, the Chinese which is ce 53 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:04,200 Speaker 1: mal sima, the Japanese which is C. Cranada, and the 54 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:08,519 Speaker 1: American which is C. Dentata. And yeah, these trees can 55 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:10,960 Speaker 1: vary in height from like thirty to a hundred feet, 56 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:14,519 Speaker 1: which is around nine to thirty with these oblong leaves 57 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:16,840 Speaker 1: that come to a sharp point and have serrated edges, 58 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:19,400 Speaker 1: and they can live for hundreds of years. And this 59 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:25,480 Speaker 1: nut is our first true nut? What right? Oh my god, 60 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:31,000 Speaker 1: we should have ban faire hearty so so so I 61 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 1: so I really officially looked it up to try to 62 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:34,679 Speaker 1: get my head around this and the definition of true 63 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:37,200 Speaker 1: nut is that it's it's like a fruit and seed 64 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:40,560 Speaker 1: combo unit that comes in a hard and generally inedible 65 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:44,680 Speaker 1: shell that does not open on its own. Oh no, no, never, 66 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:48,600 Speaker 1: um okay, So chestnuts grow like this. The trees put 67 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:50,800 Speaker 1: off these small clusters of flowers in the late spring 68 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:53,920 Speaker 1: or early summer, and the female flowers will usually be 69 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:57,840 Speaker 1: clustered together in groups of three, surrounded by a sort 70 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:01,120 Speaker 1: of capsule of of these tiny bracts, which are which 71 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:06,000 Speaker 1: are stiff little flower bits. Yeah, and when the flowers 72 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:09,520 Speaker 1: are fertilized, those three flowers will start growing into three 73 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:13,240 Speaker 1: individual nuts um each each each creamy white with a 74 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:17,520 Speaker 1: chocolate brown husk and shaped sort of like cloves of garlic. Meanwhile, 75 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:21,279 Speaker 1: that spiny capsule grows with them, forming the spiky green 76 00:04:21,760 --> 00:04:25,200 Speaker 1: sheath or or burr. And when they're mature, the bars 77 00:04:25,279 --> 00:04:27,640 Speaker 1: open and dropped to the ground or sometimes just drop 78 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:32,359 Speaker 1: the nuts. I have to say, when I saw a 79 00:04:32,360 --> 00:04:36,160 Speaker 1: picture of this, I laughed aloud because I was like, 80 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:39,719 Speaker 1: why did it? We name it dentata? And I saw 81 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:42,159 Speaker 1: the picture and it made sense and I laughed and 82 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:44,120 Speaker 1: I laughed at laugh Okay, I see you, yeah, yeah, 83 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:48,800 Speaker 1: Because they're they're they're very spiky, they're they're very toothy looking. 84 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:53,600 Speaker 1: They are, yeah, a little bit, a little bit monstrous. Um. 85 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:56,600 Speaker 1: But so once once you get this nut okay to 86 00:04:56,960 --> 00:04:59,720 Speaker 1: eat it, you're gonna you're gonna want to cook it somehow. 87 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:01,520 Speaker 1: But uh, in order to do that, you're going to 88 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:03,800 Speaker 1: cut a slit or an x in the husk and 89 00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:06,120 Speaker 1: then generally boil or roast them until the flesh is 90 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:08,479 Speaker 1: tender and the husk is soft enough to be peeled off, 91 00:05:08,839 --> 00:05:11,839 Speaker 1: and the flesh will be this creamy yellow, something like 92 00:05:11,839 --> 00:05:14,400 Speaker 1: the texture of a cooked potato. Um. The flavor is 93 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:16,880 Speaker 1: rich and sweet and earthy. And yeah, they're They're used 94 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:19,440 Speaker 1: in both savory and sweet dishes. They can be ground 95 00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:22,279 Speaker 1: into a flower for soups or desserts, mashed up and 96 00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:25,840 Speaker 1: fried like doughnuts, made into pures for pastry fillings, or 97 00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:27,839 Speaker 1: added to any number of dishes for a boost of 98 00:05:27,880 --> 00:05:33,000 Speaker 1: that sweet richness than some people apparently enjoy. Um. And 99 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:35,440 Speaker 1: those trees themselves are a hardwood that that wood has 100 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:39,120 Speaker 1: been used for construction and ornamentation pretty much everywhere they 101 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:42,280 Speaker 1: grow around the world. Um and uh, and that wood 102 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:45,719 Speaker 1: contains a lot of tannin which once extracted, is key 103 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:49,880 Speaker 1: in the processing of leather of tanning. Yeah, the wood 104 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:53,880 Speaker 1: has also been used to make paper, very very much useful, 105 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:56,960 Speaker 1: a lot of things to do. What about the nutrition, Yes, 106 00:05:57,000 --> 00:06:00,520 Speaker 1: where a food show weird um Wise, chestnuts have a 107 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:04,440 Speaker 1: macronutrient profile more like a grain than most other culinary nuts. Um, 108 00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:08,720 Speaker 1: like by caloric intake, they're like carbohydrate um. But they 109 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:11,560 Speaker 1: still have like double the protein of most grains and 110 00:06:11,839 --> 00:06:16,320 Speaker 1: alway less fat than most nuts. So yeah, fun weird 111 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:19,120 Speaker 1: little in between category that they fill. They've they've also 112 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:21,839 Speaker 1: gotten excellent smattering of vitamins and minerals comparable to some 113 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:24,279 Speaker 1: fresh fruits or vegetables. So yeah, like they're a little 114 00:06:24,279 --> 00:06:27,240 Speaker 1: bit carb heavy, but especially paired with a bit more 115 00:06:27,320 --> 00:06:30,760 Speaker 1: protein um and other types of plant stuff, they will 116 00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:33,840 Speaker 1: totally fill you up and keep you going and give 117 00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:35,520 Speaker 1: your body all that stuff that it needs to you 118 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:40,200 Speaker 1: know body. He right hey chestnuts, Yeah right, good on you. 119 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:44,560 Speaker 1: We do have some numbers for you. The U s 120 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:47,480 Speaker 1: makes up less than one percent of global production. Most 121 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:49,560 Speaker 1: of the fresh chestnuts sold in the US are imported 122 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:52,800 Speaker 1: from China, Korea, and Italy. The yearly value of chestnuts 123 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:55,599 Speaker 1: imported into the US is estimated to be around twenty 124 00:06:55,680 --> 00:06:59,279 Speaker 1: million dollars. The chestnut is sometimes used in the place 125 00:06:59,279 --> 00:07:02,360 Speaker 1: of potatoes and dishes around the world. In Africa, Europe, Asia, 126 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:08,159 Speaker 1: the French call high quality chestnuts and candy them. I'm 127 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:12,160 Speaker 1: interested in that these days, most of American chestnut consumption 128 00:07:12,200 --> 00:07:14,760 Speaker 1: does happen around the holidays, either roasted over an open 129 00:07:14,840 --> 00:07:18,280 Speaker 1: fire or as an addition to stuffan slash. Dressing and 130 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:22,400 Speaker 1: spottings of chestnut trees in the wild make national news 131 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:25,320 Speaker 1: for good reasons that we will get into. Will um 132 00:07:25,680 --> 00:07:29,000 Speaker 1: so rare are old chestnut trees that they are named, 133 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:32,000 Speaker 1: like when people find them, they get a name. Oh wow, yes, 134 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:35,120 Speaker 1: like this is Bob. I hope there's a Bob out there. 135 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:40,240 Speaker 1: The American Chestnut Foundation labels them as technically extinct. But yeah, 136 00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:43,600 Speaker 1: that was not always the case at all. Oh, certainly not. 137 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:46,000 Speaker 1: And we will get into that after we get back 138 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:47,679 Speaker 1: from a quick break for a word from our sponsor, 139 00:07:56,320 --> 00:07:58,640 Speaker 1: and we're back. Thank you sponsored, Yes, thank you. So 140 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:02,920 Speaker 1: chestnuts are old. Oh yeah, they're old. They're they're not new. Yeah, 141 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:06,880 Speaker 1: as in up there with the first foods eaten by humans. 142 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:13,040 Speaker 1: Insert that old chestnut here. Old chestnuts. Yeah, they were 143 00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:17,600 Speaker 1: one of the first domesticated crops see sativa. Probably originated 144 00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:21,760 Speaker 1: in Europe and probably specifically in Greece and or possibly China. 145 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:25,280 Speaker 1: You know, one of those five thousand year old Chinese 146 00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:28,640 Speaker 1: poetry mentioned chestnuts, and remains of chestnuts have been found 147 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:32,080 Speaker 1: from one thousand years prior to that. In areas of 148 00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:35,400 Speaker 1: the Mediterranean where grain growing proved difficult, chestnuts were a 149 00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:39,400 Speaker 1: fantastic option. Yeah, the ancient Romans spread them throughout their empire, 150 00:08:39,920 --> 00:08:42,480 Speaker 1: and also there's evidence from Japan dating back to a 151 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:46,120 Speaker 1: little bit later on about one thousand Sea some records 152 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:49,240 Speaker 1: indicate that street vendors were selling rosted chestnuts by the 153 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:53,520 Speaker 1: sixteenth century Sea in Rome. Jumping ahead and then see 154 00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:56,240 Speaker 1: dn Tata. The American variety of the chestnut tree was 155 00:08:56,320 --> 00:09:00,680 Speaker 1: known to Native Americans long before European immigrants arrived. They 156 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:03,719 Speaker 1: boiled the leaves down for medicinal purposes, and when the 157 00:09:03,760 --> 00:09:09,840 Speaker 1: Europeans did arrive, they discovered just so many chestnut groves everywhere. Yes, 158 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:14,240 Speaker 1: at one time the entire eastern coast of the United 159 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:17,400 Speaker 1: States was rife with chestnut trees. Several accounts exist of 160 00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:20,959 Speaker 1: people living in regions with plentiful chestnut trees, and they 161 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:23,640 Speaker 1: tell people who wrote of chestnuts helping them get through 162 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:27,559 Speaker 1: tough times. A lot of these nuts were open anybody 163 00:09:27,559 --> 00:09:31,240 Speaker 1: to forage, and plenty of them. Yeah. One quote mountain 164 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:35,120 Speaker 1: woman said, a grove of chestnuts is a better provider 165 00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:38,240 Speaker 1: than I. A man easier to have around too, like 166 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:43,079 Speaker 1: this mountain woman. Other accounts claimed that in some forest 167 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:48,719 Speaker 1: during chestnuts season, inches of chestnuts accumulated. People made use 168 00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:50,800 Speaker 1: of them in puddings, ground them up into flour for 169 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:53,320 Speaker 1: cakes and breads. Are just eight and plain old roasted. 170 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:55,560 Speaker 1: They were fed to pigs and cows and believed to 171 00:09:55,600 --> 00:09:59,440 Speaker 1: impart superior taste to the meat. The wood was preferred 172 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:02,080 Speaker 1: by woodwork is for crafts and log cabins, and many 173 00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:05,880 Speaker 1: a main square was shaded by chestnut trees. Over one 174 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:09,280 Speaker 1: thousand places in the Appalachia had chestnuts in the name. 175 00:10:09,600 --> 00:10:12,520 Speaker 1: In some parts of that region, chestnuts were used as currency. 176 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:15,840 Speaker 1: Children called chestnuts shoe money because at the start of 177 00:10:15,880 --> 00:10:20,199 Speaker 1: school year, children got their nuts together to buy shoes. Yeah. 178 00:10:20,360 --> 00:10:24,720 Speaker 1: Some historians sometimes informally dubbed roasted chestnuts as America's first 179 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:30,800 Speaker 1: fast food. Imagine that they were also a popular tree 180 00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:35,200 Speaker 1: with horticulturists. Thomas Jefferson experimented with graphs of American and 181 00:10:35,240 --> 00:10:39,960 Speaker 1: European chestnuts at Monticello in seventeen seventy three, just for example. 182 00:10:40,040 --> 00:10:43,559 Speaker 1: But uh yeah, other folks were bringing in other varieties 183 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:46,840 Speaker 1: um throughout the eighteen hundreds, and this led to the 184 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:49,959 Speaker 1: creation and propagation of a lot of varietals up through 185 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:53,400 Speaker 1: the early nineteen hundreds. With the advent of steamboats and 186 00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:56,400 Speaker 1: completion of railroads in the eighteen sixties, Kentucky was able 187 00:10:56,440 --> 00:10:59,680 Speaker 1: to sell some of their plentiful chestnuts. They were available 188 00:10:59,679 --> 00:11:03,000 Speaker 1: in jem stores through door to door salespeople. At its 189 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:06,280 Speaker 1: height in nineteen fourteen, Virginia's cash crop supply of chestnuts 190 00:11:06,360 --> 00:11:09,680 Speaker 1: was over two million pounds. And this brings us to 191 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:15,320 Speaker 1: a huge event in America's chestnut history, blight. The blights 192 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:20,200 Speaker 1: blights Japanese chestnut trees carrying fungus spread. This fungus spread, 193 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:24,480 Speaker 1: and it eventually nearly eradicated the American chestnut tree population, 194 00:11:24,520 --> 00:11:28,880 Speaker 1: which at the time numbered around four billion. The infection 195 00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:31,400 Speaker 1: might have set in earlier in the eighteen nineties, but 196 00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:34,680 Speaker 1: it wasn't reported on until nineteen o four. Um. Yeah, 197 00:11:34,679 --> 00:11:37,600 Speaker 1: It was first described by employees at the Bronx Zoo, 198 00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:41,600 Speaker 1: so it's sometimes reported to have come from there and 199 00:11:41,880 --> 00:11:44,880 Speaker 1: then in nineteen o four, but it's more likely that 200 00:11:44,920 --> 00:11:48,240 Speaker 1: a number of trees were brought into various areas in 201 00:11:48,280 --> 00:11:52,280 Speaker 1: the Northeast with the infection. Right. This fungus attached to 202 00:11:52,360 --> 00:11:55,319 Speaker 1: animal fur and bird feathers and ale of chestnuts. To 203 00:11:55,520 --> 00:11:58,280 Speaker 1: one written anecdote from the time, advised that you had 204 00:11:58,320 --> 00:12:00,480 Speaker 1: to get through the tree, the chestnut tree before the 205 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:02,760 Speaker 1: turkeys do if you want to get your hands on 206 00:12:02,800 --> 00:12:06,440 Speaker 1: some chestnuts. Point being, they helped spread it far and 207 00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:09,480 Speaker 1: ride this fungus. Yeah. And the way the way that 208 00:12:09,559 --> 00:12:12,920 Speaker 1: this blight works is that the fungus creates a lot 209 00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:16,680 Speaker 1: of exalic acid, which which eats away at the trees 210 00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:19,480 Speaker 1: enough to let the fungus in to to feed and 211 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:23,000 Speaker 1: grow in the trees tissue, which which causes these these 212 00:12:23,040 --> 00:12:27,080 Speaker 1: cankers that kill everything around them and prevent any part 213 00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:29,920 Speaker 1: of the tree above the infection line from you know, 214 00:12:29,920 --> 00:12:33,080 Speaker 1: getting nutrients from the roots, uh and effectively leaving you 215 00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:36,560 Speaker 1: with a stump um. New shoots will grow from those stumps, 216 00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:40,400 Speaker 1: forming the sort of like sad shrub that's also vulnerable 217 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:42,520 Speaker 1: to the fungus um. But yeah, it prevents the tree 218 00:12:42,559 --> 00:12:46,120 Speaker 1: from really growing or or producing nuts. By the nineteen tens, 219 00:12:46,240 --> 00:12:50,560 Speaker 1: state commissions were formed around this issue. These commissions pushed 220 00:12:50,559 --> 00:12:53,440 Speaker 1: farmers to chop down trees plagued by blight. A paper 221 00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:57,840 Speaker 1: out of Honsdale, Pennsylvania implored woodman burrown that tree spare 222 00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:01,200 Speaker 1: not a single bow. The Boy Scouts got involved in 223 00:13:01,240 --> 00:13:03,680 Speaker 1: several states has with searching forest for blighted trees and 224 00:13:03,679 --> 00:13:06,719 Speaker 1: the hopes of creating a blight free zone, but all 225 00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:10,400 Speaker 1: of these initiatives proved unsuccessful. In the nineteen twenties, the 226 00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:13,560 Speaker 1: Bismarck Daily Tribune reported efforts to stop the spread of 227 00:13:13,559 --> 00:13:18,200 Speaker 1: this bark disease have been given up four hundred million dollars. 228 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:20,160 Speaker 1: That was the value the paper estimated the trees were 229 00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:24,040 Speaker 1: worth ten years ten years earlier. Yeah. The Daily Tribune 230 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:26,439 Speaker 1: wrote that this amounted to the loss of a conspicuous 231 00:13:26,480 --> 00:13:29,640 Speaker 1: and beautiful feature of the landscape in this country, and 232 00:13:29,640 --> 00:13:32,440 Speaker 1: went on to limit schoolboys of the future who read 233 00:13:32,520 --> 00:13:35,480 Speaker 1: the poem of the village Blacksmith will ask what is 234 00:13:35,520 --> 00:13:38,400 Speaker 1: a chestnut tree? And the poem in reference is won 235 00:13:38,440 --> 00:13:42,440 Speaker 1: by longfellow also of note, this was especially devastating because 236 00:13:42,440 --> 00:13:45,480 Speaker 1: it coincided with the Great Depression. A North Carolina lumberman 237 00:13:45,480 --> 00:13:48,720 Speaker 1: wrote in the nineteen thirties, Certainly nothing could be more 238 00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:51,200 Speaker 1: in sightly than the gaunt and naked trunks of these 239 00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:54,440 Speaker 1: dead trees, standing like skeletons in every vista which the 240 00:13:54,520 --> 00:13:58,160 Speaker 1: eye turns. The U. S Department of Agriculture began trying 241 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:01,520 Speaker 1: to develop a resistant chestnut hybrid the nineteen thirties, but 242 00:14:01,559 --> 00:14:04,560 Speaker 1: despite decades of trying, they were unable to find a 243 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:11,319 Speaker 1: solution and shut down in the nineties. Yeah, eighties of 244 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:13,640 Speaker 1: the chestnut trees located in the Great Smoky Mountains had 245 00:14:13,679 --> 00:14:16,760 Speaker 1: died off. By nineteen forty. Just a few groves in 246 00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:20,320 Speaker 1: California and the Pacific Northwest survived. With the arrival of 247 00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:23,520 Speaker 1: the nineteen fifties, most of our chestnut tree population was gone. 248 00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:27,480 Speaker 1: Botanists call this one of the greatest botanical disasters in 249 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:31,160 Speaker 1: our history. Someone who grew up in Kentucky during that 250 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:35,640 Speaker 1: time wrote, I thought the whole world was going to die. Yeah. 251 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:39,160 Speaker 1: This was a hugely important product for food, for shelter, 252 00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:45,400 Speaker 1: for income, and it was just gone. Wow. Yeah, but 253 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:49,120 Speaker 1: let's start it around. Yeah, what about that connection to 254 00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:57,440 Speaker 1: the holidays, Annie, Well, Lauren, it's light. No. Chestnuts do 255 00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:02,080 Speaker 1: ripen in the Thanksgiving to Christmas season. Yeah? Yeah, they 256 00:15:02,120 --> 00:15:07,120 Speaker 1: bloom late spring, early summer, ripe in fault to early winter, right, 257 00:15:07,680 --> 00:15:10,520 Speaker 1: and papers would depict train cars full of them rolling 258 00:15:10,520 --> 00:15:13,560 Speaker 1: into big cities just in time for the holiday season. 259 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:17,560 Speaker 1: The Christmas song Chestnuts Posting over an open Fire debuted 260 00:15:17,560 --> 00:15:20,120 Speaker 1: in the twenty century with that classic line. Nat King 261 00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:22,920 Speaker 1: Cole was the first to make it famous in it 262 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:25,360 Speaker 1: was actually written by Meltormat. Well, there you go, there 263 00:15:25,400 --> 00:15:28,520 Speaker 1: you go. Chestnuts have played a role in other Christian 264 00:15:28,520 --> 00:15:31,320 Speaker 1: traditions before this. On the feast of St. Martin's Day 265 00:15:31,480 --> 00:15:34,360 Speaker 1: they were given to the poor as a representation of sustenance, 266 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:37,560 Speaker 1: and in Tuscany they were eaten for St Simon's Day. 267 00:15:37,800 --> 00:15:41,160 Speaker 1: A wedding tradition on Corsica calls for chestnuts prepared twenty 268 00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:43,120 Speaker 1: two different ways at a wedding feast. I would love 269 00:15:43,160 --> 00:15:46,520 Speaker 1: to hear more about this any listeners experience. Early Christians 270 00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:51,960 Speaker 1: thought that chestnuts were symbolic of chastity. Okay, yeah. The 271 00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:55,720 Speaker 1: American Chestnut Foundation was founded in three with a mission 272 00:15:55,800 --> 00:15:59,040 Speaker 1: of restoring the American chestnut population to its former number. 273 00:15:59,680 --> 00:16:03,000 Speaker 1: There were six thousand members by nine and that year 274 00:16:03,040 --> 00:16:07,240 Speaker 1: they started a breeding program. Corn geneticist Charles Burnham, reading 275 00:16:07,240 --> 00:16:09,400 Speaker 1: about the shutdown of the US government hybrid program we 276 00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:14,040 Speaker 1: mentioned earlier, realized they'd made a major misstep in ignoring 277 00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:19,520 Speaker 1: back crossing. So scientists in the US haven't given up 278 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:22,280 Speaker 1: on the chestnut tree. You know. They're experimenting with breeding 279 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:25,840 Speaker 1: American and resistant to blight Chinese chestnut trees and then 280 00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:29,920 Speaker 1: crossing the resulting specimen with pure American chestnut trees. Some 281 00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:33,200 Speaker 1: scientists are working on sequencing the DNA of American chestnut 282 00:16:33,240 --> 00:16:36,120 Speaker 1: trees and the blight. Yeah, and one of the ideas 283 00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:38,360 Speaker 1: that's come out of that research is that we could 284 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:42,800 Speaker 1: genetically engineer American chestnut trees that essentially d weaponize this 285 00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:46,600 Speaker 1: fungus by by creating an enzyme that breaks down that 286 00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:51,280 Speaker 1: xalic acid that the fungus produces. And so, Yeah, and 287 00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:54,640 Speaker 1: they've successfully created trees like this. The gene responsible for 288 00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:57,920 Speaker 1: creating the enzyme comes from bread wheat. Researchers have been 289 00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:01,600 Speaker 1: working on this since nine um, but it's only being 290 00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:07,400 Speaker 1: seriously considered for distribution like in the wild this year. Um, 291 00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:10,280 Speaker 1: and it is to be fair really tangly topic attempting 292 00:17:10,320 --> 00:17:14,439 Speaker 1: to reforest with a genetically modified organism. But but the 293 00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:17,200 Speaker 1: researchers say that the modified trees don't harm local bees 294 00:17:17,359 --> 00:17:22,240 Speaker 1: or helpful fungi or tadpoles, so it looks good maybe. 295 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:27,400 Speaker 1: Uh and yeah, they can't just introduce um, those blite 296 00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:32,119 Speaker 1: resistant genes from the Chinese chestnuts into the American chestnuts 297 00:17:32,160 --> 00:17:35,320 Speaker 1: because it's like a whole suite of genes. It's not 298 00:17:35,359 --> 00:17:36,679 Speaker 1: like a couple of jeans that you could just be 299 00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:41,119 Speaker 1: like boop boop. Um. It's a whole tangled wet it is. 300 00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:45,600 Speaker 1: Another tactic being steadied involves infecting trees with a virus 301 00:17:45,680 --> 00:17:49,399 Speaker 1: that could potentially kill the blaze. Yeah, I know, it 302 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:52,480 Speaker 1: feels like a good backfire built the Okay. Five blite 303 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:55,040 Speaker 1: resistant American chestnut trees were planted in two thousand eight 304 00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:57,840 Speaker 1: and two thousand nine. Scientists are also interested in the 305 00:17:57,880 --> 00:18:00,480 Speaker 1: chestnut trees ability to sequester your carbon ac side and 306 00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:02,679 Speaker 1: reclaim coal land. Yeah. I've read that a lot of 307 00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:07,040 Speaker 1: land that was previously used for strip mining. Um chestnut 308 00:18:07,119 --> 00:18:10,480 Speaker 1: trees would be a particularly good use of the nutrients 309 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:13,520 Speaker 1: that are still in that soil and in restoring that 310 00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:20,960 Speaker 1: land to something usable. Yeah, I had no idea. I 311 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:24,800 Speaker 1: had no idea. This blew my mind that they these 312 00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:29,240 Speaker 1: trees used to be everywhere, Yeah, Eastern Eastern score certainly, 313 00:18:29,359 --> 00:18:33,000 Speaker 1: like like they were never very populous outside of the East, 314 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:38,359 Speaker 1: but just gone, just gone. And I've always kind of 315 00:18:38,400 --> 00:18:40,520 Speaker 1: wondered about it because the line in that song, I 316 00:18:40,520 --> 00:18:43,880 Speaker 1: would think, they're everywhere? Yeah, why why is that even 317 00:18:43,920 --> 00:18:46,840 Speaker 1: in the song? Why what? And now it makes so 318 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:51,480 Speaker 1: much more sense, Uh, sad. And I got bummed out 319 00:18:51,480 --> 00:18:55,800 Speaker 1: about the guy when he was like children in the 320 00:18:55,800 --> 00:18:59,119 Speaker 1: next generation won't know, won't know? Yeah, yeah, And I mean, 321 00:18:59,160 --> 00:19:02,480 Speaker 1: and they sound like glorious trees, they do. And the 322 00:19:02,720 --> 00:19:05,800 Speaker 1: and I was like one of the small rabbit holes 323 00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:09,360 Speaker 1: that I pulled myself out of, was was about woodworking, 324 00:19:09,760 --> 00:19:12,760 Speaker 1: some of the woodwork in houses from the turn of 325 00:19:12,800 --> 00:19:18,080 Speaker 1: the twentieth century. Uh, and how common chestnut hardwood floors 326 00:19:18,320 --> 00:19:23,199 Speaker 1: and and other fixtures were, and how like that's a 327 00:19:23,240 --> 00:19:25,720 Speaker 1: really good sign that a house is from before a 328 00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:32,280 Speaker 1: certain point, because after that point. Yep, yep, this has 329 00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:38,040 Speaker 1: been a happy holiday episode. You're welcome everyone. Fascinating stuff though, 330 00:19:38,119 --> 00:19:40,160 Speaker 1: Oh gosh, yeah, and I'm sure there's a lot more. 331 00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:42,600 Speaker 1: I because I didn't know this was such a huge 332 00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:45,360 Speaker 1: event American history. I'm sure there's a lot more when 333 00:19:45,359 --> 00:19:49,560 Speaker 1: it comes to Japan and China other places than the US. Yeah, 334 00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:51,920 Speaker 1: they're also grown in Korea, and it sounds like there's 335 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:54,960 Speaker 1: a lot of really interesting information about like Eastern Europe. 336 00:19:55,600 --> 00:19:57,080 Speaker 1: But yeah, we kind of focused it on this because 337 00:19:57,119 --> 00:20:00,720 Speaker 1: we're like, oh wait, disaster and there's so tree sources 338 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:04,840 Speaker 1: on it, so many papers written about it. So now 339 00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:08,119 Speaker 1: you know if you didn't before. Uh, same for me. 340 00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:12,639 Speaker 1: Lessons always learning. Um, yeah, that's about what we have 341 00:20:12,720 --> 00:20:14,520 Speaker 1: to say with the chestnut. We do have a little 342 00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:16,239 Speaker 1: bit more for you, but first we've got one more 343 00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:26,920 Speaker 1: quick break for a word from our sponsor, and we're back. 344 00:20:26,920 --> 00:20:30,480 Speaker 1: Thank you sponsors, Yes, thank you, And we're back with listen. 345 00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:38,000 Speaker 1: It's hard to do, Matt king Cole with the listener mails. 346 00:20:39,160 --> 00:20:45,240 Speaker 1: We gave it the old College dry William wrote. Just 347 00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:48,040 Speaker 1: got done listening to the Coffee Cast, and as always 348 00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:50,960 Speaker 1: it was awesome. As a trucker, coffee is kind of 349 00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:53,800 Speaker 1: life blood. Keeps me going with my unpredictable sleep schedule. 350 00:20:54,119 --> 00:20:57,000 Speaker 1: I go in for some good stuff, often ordering single source, 351 00:20:57,080 --> 00:20:59,960 Speaker 1: organic and fair trade coffee online from small independent roaster, 352 00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:03,320 Speaker 1: and have a percolator, espresso maker and a Moca pot 353 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:07,479 Speaker 1: on board the rig to make like you know, Fatty Joe's, 354 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:10,880 Speaker 1: I make some awesome coffee drinks on the truck. One day, 355 00:21:10,920 --> 00:21:13,119 Speaker 1: I needed an especially strong brew after a rough night 356 00:21:13,160 --> 00:21:15,840 Speaker 1: with limited sleep, and made a sugarless salted caramel fat 357 00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:20,760 Speaker 1: latte with about five shots of espresso and a nice filmy. Unfortunately, 358 00:21:21,119 --> 00:21:22,679 Speaker 1: when I got out of the truck to check my 359 00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:25,480 Speaker 1: refer unit, my dog Gerbil, managed to get the lid 360 00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:28,119 Speaker 1: off my copy mug and helped herself to quite a 361 00:21:28,200 --> 00:21:31,359 Speaker 1: large portion of my latte. Oh no, I now know 362 00:21:31,480 --> 00:21:34,200 Speaker 1: what a dog might look like when going all breaking bad. 363 00:21:34,520 --> 00:21:36,480 Speaker 1: I practically had to peel the little monster off the 364 00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:39,960 Speaker 1: ceiling for the next three hundred miles managed to get 365 00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:41,399 Speaker 1: a pick of her while she was all tweaked out 366 00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:43,520 Speaker 1: on caffeine. I now I have a copy mug with 367 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:46,960 Speaker 1: a screw top lid, also including a pick of a 368 00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:48,679 Speaker 1: recent addition to the truck, because I know you all did. 369 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:51,680 Speaker 1: Critters had an unplanned conceit when I found a baby 370 00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:53,720 Speaker 1: cat in the bumper of the truck. Well, my dog 371 00:21:53,760 --> 00:21:56,520 Speaker 1: doing a morning breachip. Her name is Bumper and he 372 00:21:56,600 --> 00:22:00,399 Speaker 1: did send pictures and they are adorable. Oh yes, and 373 00:22:00,480 --> 00:22:03,159 Speaker 1: I love this coffee set up on your truck right. Gosh, 374 00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:07,040 Speaker 1: that's fancier than I have in my house. I have 375 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:13,359 Speaker 1: in my house aspirations. Yes, Gen wrote while listening to 376 00:22:13,359 --> 00:22:15,720 Speaker 1: your episode on s car Go today, I was instantly 377 00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:18,120 Speaker 1: brought back to my two thousand seven tripped to Morocco, 378 00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:21,199 Speaker 1: where snails are a common dish. My first encounter with 379 00:22:21,240 --> 00:22:23,640 Speaker 1: them was in the Soux in Fez, where they are 380 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:28,119 Speaker 1: sold live like in this crawling mass in one massive market. 381 00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:31,800 Speaker 1: Amidst the hundreds of stalls and the monkey and sneak candlers, 382 00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:34,640 Speaker 1: there's a row of half a dozen little stands, all 383 00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:38,080 Speaker 1: selling snails boiled in broth. Snails are sold in little 384 00:22:38,119 --> 00:22:39,880 Speaker 1: bowls with a little bit of broth, and you sit 385 00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:42,800 Speaker 1: at stools around the kiosk, a very hot dog stand 386 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:45,119 Speaker 1: kind of vibe. You eat the snails by pulling the 387 00:22:45,160 --> 00:22:47,200 Speaker 1: meati bits out with a toothpick. There's quite a bit 388 00:22:47,240 --> 00:22:49,520 Speaker 1: of meat in there. I found the taste quite similar 389 00:22:49,560 --> 00:22:51,879 Speaker 1: to muscles or clams, with perhaps a more earthy and 390 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:54,560 Speaker 1: less oceany flavor. Of course, the broth is a big 391 00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:57,639 Speaker 1: contributor to the taste, but the simple preparation really allows 392 00:22:57,640 --> 00:23:00,680 Speaker 1: you to taste the genuine flavor of the snails. I've 393 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:03,119 Speaker 1: never had proper French s cargo, but we used to 394 00:23:03,119 --> 00:23:05,280 Speaker 1: sell it at the semi fancy grocery store I worked 395 00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:08,160 Speaker 1: at in university, and it always looked like a nauseating 396 00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:11,040 Speaker 1: amount of butter in there. I would highly suggest trying 397 00:23:11,119 --> 00:23:13,760 Speaker 1: the boiled snails if you ever get the chance. Morocco 398 00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:17,480 Speaker 1: has some other amazing dishes. To Jeanne Pastia, I think 399 00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:19,520 Speaker 1: that's how you pronounce it, which is a meat pie, 400 00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:22,240 Speaker 1: she says, dusted with a sugar incinamon and sometimes made 401 00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:25,920 Speaker 1: with pigeon mint tea. And of course the endless suits 402 00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:29,280 Speaker 1: filled with every type of food imaginable, including camel meat. 403 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:34,320 Speaker 1: Worthy of another podcast trip perhaps, Yes, let's go right now, Okay, 404 00:23:34,640 --> 00:23:39,720 Speaker 1: good bye, I'm trip. She also sent pictures and they 405 00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:46,280 Speaker 1: were great, fantastic, so many snails. Thanks to both of 406 00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:48,960 Speaker 1: those listeners for writing to us. If you would like 407 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:50,479 Speaker 1: to write to us, we would love to hear from you. 408 00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:53,320 Speaker 1: Our email is Hello at Sabor pod dot com. We're 409 00:23:53,359 --> 00:23:55,760 Speaker 1: also on social media. You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, 410 00:23:55,840 --> 00:23:58,600 Speaker 1: and Instagram at saber pod and yes, we do hope 411 00:23:58,600 --> 00:24:00,800 Speaker 1: to hear from you. So Favor is a production of 412 00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:03,159 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio and Stuff Media. For more podcasts from 413 00:24:03,160 --> 00:24:05,000 Speaker 1: My Heart Radio, you can visit the iHeart Radio app, 414 00:24:05,040 --> 00:24:07,560 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. 415 00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:10,320 Speaker 1: Thank you, as always to her super producers Dylan Fagin 416 00:24:10,359 --> 00:24:12,600 Speaker 1: and Andrew Howard. Thanks to you for listening, and we 417 00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:21,760 Speaker 1: hope that lots more good things are coming your way.