In addition, an unknown quantity of dried chestnuts were imported. Fresh nuts are refrigerated. The most traditional use of chestnuts is roasted whole, with the shell and peel. Roasted chestnuts are sold in fall and winter on street corners in most Eastern cities. In Japan, Chinese chestnuts from Korea are marketed in that fashion.
Peeling is done by the customer as the nuts are eaten.
The chestnut market in the northeastern U.S. is not entirely an ethnic one, but it is centered around the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Recent immigrants of Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese origin, form the most receptive markets for in-shell chestnuts which could be produced in U.S. orchards. In the west, Oriental food stores are a natural first opportunity. Because of the problems in storage, fresh chestnuts are available only seasonally. U.S. marketers could come into that same market six months later.