Maroni
SavouryNov to Jan
Maroni suit anyone who wants a warm, plain snack between sweet stalls, and the trade-off is peeling them with cold fingers. Look for the Maronistand, a small booth roasting them in metal drums, which is a fixture at Vienna's Christmas markets.
A Maronistand is a small booth where a vendor roasts sweet chestnuts in and on portable metal drums, often with potato snacks beside them. English Wikipedia calls them a common sight at Viennese Christmas markets. MAGMAG's market on Vienna's Schwarzenbergplatz lists Maroni among its classics with Punsch, Glühwein and fried potatoes.
Chestnuts must be cooked before you eat them, and a Salzburg newspaper says roasted is the form you'll find at every Advent market. In Bern, the Strazzini Marroni stand on the Waisenhausplatz market notes on the market's own trader page that chestnuts once gave Alpine farmers two to three times more calories per cultivated unit than grain, which is why people called the chestnut tree the bread tree of the poor.
Worth knowing
- Hold the bag in your gloves for a minute; it doubles as a hand warmer.
Quick answers about Maroni
What are Maroni?
Maroni is the Austrian and south German word for sweet chestnuts, and at Christmas markets it means chestnuts roasted in their shells at a small stand.
How do you order Maroni?
Ask for a bag of Maroni at the roasting stand; Swiss stands spell it Marroni. Peel them while they're warm.
When is Maroni in season?
Maroni: Late autumn and winter, from the first cold weeks until the Christmas markets close.