Well, at first chestnuts have to be collected. Yes, that's right – collected from under the tree, not picked from the tree. You have to collect those which have already hatched from blackened shells. They are wet. Because they were lying among fallen leaves, a bit slimy, ready to decay. Then you have to take them home to get them dry – but not much, just to stop them make ugly dirty stains on your fingers. Then you can crack light brown shells to get the brain-like core out. Of chestnut colour. Could it be of another colour? Could a nut be of plum colour? Why not? It depends on how far or near the plum-colour is from nut-colour. Which nut-colour? Well, let's forget the colours, let's focus on taste. In this very case the skin is the most important. The fact it is, not its colour. Any colour it is, it must be pealed off, otherwise the nut will taste bitterish. The pealing is easy. The fresher, the easier. Then white, crunchy, delicate, not bitter at all, the most nutty core is being uncovered. It's interesting: the drier the chestnut is, the less bitter the skin is and more difficult to be pealed off..... That's why you must hurry up. The bitterish taste of the skin penetrates the white, crunchy core, while the sweet taste of the core penetrates the skin and they unite and unify and merge more and more. And hurry up – the chestnuts are not that many, and the squirrel is quite diligent.