Given that castagna means chestnut I did feel a little guilty substituting the chestnut flour for Bunya nut flour in this recipe. What a lovely way to use up the bunya nuts, though!
I was recently reading the diary of Governor Hunter, written around the time of the landing of the first fleet, and he described what could have only been a bunya nut.
"There is likewise a nut, which had violent effects on those who ate it unprepared: the natives soak it in water for seven or eight days, changing the water every day; and at the expiration of that time they roast it in the embers; but the kernel is taken out of the hard shell with which it is enclosed, previous to its being put into the water: it is nearly equal to the chestnut in goodness."
Apart from the fact that I made the flour from scratch (read: boiling, peeling, dehydrating, blitzing) the castagnaccio was very fast to make. It was interesting that I needed to add quite a bit of extra water and still didn't quite get the mixture to a porridge like state. I can only assume that the properties of bunya nut flour are quite different to that of chestnut flour even if they do taste practically the same.
I was recently reading the diary of Governor Hunter, written around the time of the landing of the first fleet, and he described what could have only been a bunya nut.
"There is likewise a nut, which had violent effects on those who ate it unprepared: the natives soak it in water for seven or eight days, changing the water every day; and at the expiration of that time they roast it in the embers; but the kernel is taken out of the hard shell with which it is enclosed, previous to its being put into the water: it is nearly equal to the chestnut in goodness."
Interesting, no?
Apart from the fact that I made the flour from scratch (read: boiling, peeling, dehydrating, blitzing) the castagnaccio was very fast to make. It was interesting that I needed to add quite a bit of extra water and still didn't quite get the mixture to a porridge like state. I can only assume that the properties of bunya nut flour are quite different to that of chestnut flour even if they do taste practically the same.
The only thing I would change if I made this again is to increase the number of raisins I threw in (we didn't have sultanas) as they add a really beautiful sweetness to the slice. We have discovered, however, that the castagnaccio is sensational with a drizzle of honey, therefore slight lack of sweetness crisis averted!
After a weekend of partying (yes, me!) this gentle bout of cooking was a lovely way to finish a fun but quite exhausting weekend.
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| Beautiful bunya nuts |
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