ATTENDEES at the Wandiligong Nut Festival were buying, selling and shelling all manner of nuts on the weekend, so the Myrtleford Times/Alpine Observer sought to find the answer to a perennial question: Which is best?
We spoke with six festivalgoers and the chestnut came out strong, perhaps due to this region’s preponderance of chestnut growers.
Wandi resident Lindsay Bennett, who was helping roast chestnuts at the Bright United Men’s Shed stall, said they were his favourite.
“This is the mecca for chestnuts,” he said.
“I’ve grown up with them, they’re lovely.”
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He said demand for their chestnuts at the festival varies, though a line had formed at the stall at lunchtime.
“There's a bit of a surge and it goes quiet for a little while, but that's normal,” he said.
“People are wandering past, and there's a lot of food to pick from.”
Rockbank resident Thuy Nguyen said she enjoys the sweet, nutty flavour of chestnuts, having just eaten some with a friend, though she admitted peeling them can be difficult.
She said she used to buy chestnuts on her way home from school from roasting stands in Melbourne.
“I feel like it gives you a sense of warmth during winter,” she said.
Richard McKimm, a clown who performed with a pair of musicians on the festival’s side stage, made a case for the hazelnut.
“I am quite a fan of the old hazelnut, but I do find a hazelnut needs accompaniment,” he said.
"I've never found myself to be super taken to just pick a hazelnut off the table and chew away at it.
“I think, in concert with other players, the hazelnut does add a lovely, earthy tone that I'm very fond of.
“It's definitely a good background voice to a coffee, a cinnamon scroll or a peanut butter spread.”
Ballarat residents Merv and Maree Sherlock bought a 12-kilogram bag of walnuts at the festival, saying their freshness and quality is superior to supermarket nuts.
“We've just driven all the way up here just to get our nuts,” Maree said.
“You buy a bag this size and you never get any rotten ones.”
Nut festival committee president Lee Rosser said he favoured hazelnuts and walnuts, but predicted a strong future for the chestnut.
“Chestnuts, obviously, are effectively a superfood,” he said.
“They're the ones that are gluten free, and you can cook with them, turn them into flour.
“You can make milk out of them, you can do everything with them.
“I think they're one of those foods going forward that will be only increasing in interest.”
