Warm Chestnut Salad

This post on a Warm Chestnut Salad was going to be an edition of “what posh people ate in the 1he 1990’s” however it turned into a real-life “what posh people eat in the 2020’s!  Chestnuts and prosciutto were, and are still fairly high-end items.  BUT what has pushed this salad into the realms of high-end dining this year is the greenery!

Due to floods, constant rain and various supply chain issues there are currently vast shortages of lettuce in Australia.  Iceberg lettuces which normally cost around $2 are retailing for as much as $12 per lettuce!  That is when you can even find them.  Reminiscent of the toilet paper drama of 2020, supermarket shelves normally stacked with the green stuff are empty!  Chain restaurants such as McdDonald’s and KFC are subbing cabbage into their burgers.

I was lucky enough to find some mixed leaves at a not exorbitant price at my local greengrocer last week and being able to have some fresh salad to eat made this meal feel utterly luxurious!  Lettuce is not the only thing in short supply.  Supermarkets are also warning that other produce will also be in short supply in the coming weeks:

Looks like it might need to be cocktails and cakes for the next few weeks on the blog.  Oh well, I can think of worse things!

Warm Chestnut Salad – The Recipe

The recipe for the Warm Chestnut Salad comes from the May 1993 issue of Australian Gourmet Traveller.  The OG recipe calls for the prosciutto to be grilled until crisp.  I prefer my proscuitto au naturale. Go your own way on this one.  The recipe also says it feeds four as a side salad, I halved the quantities and had it as a main meal.

This is an easy salad to make and it was absolutely delicious.  I would make this once a week for the whole of chestnut season if only the salad greens weren’t going to bankrupt me!  I have never had any luck growing lettuce but it might be time to give it another try.

Have a wonderful week!