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Sourcing Marrons glacés


Mottmott

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I wanted to decorate a cake with marron glacees. Can't seem to find them. :angry:

I have alread checked: Assouline, diBruno Fante's, Spice House (9th St), Spice

Terminal, Chef's Market, Foodsource (BrynMawr).

Am I really going to have to peel and candy them myself? Please! Help!

"Half of cooking is thinking about cooking." ---Michael Roberts

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I saw them somewhere recently. Based on where I've shopped lately, it's had to have been either Spice Terminal (which you've checked), Super Fresh on Columbus Blvd. (unlikely, but possible) or Wegman's Cherry Hill (most likely).

Thanks, I'll give them a call tomorrow. I called a candy shop in town that had them - had being the operative word.

"Half of cooking is thinking about cooking." ---Michael Roberts

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You might also try Edwards-Freeman.

:shock: I forgot all about them. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: Back in the day, the E Germantown Coop used to order from them. I'll call them tomorrow if they're open, but looking at their website, there's no mention of maron glacee either as candy or fruit.

"Half of cooking is thinking about cooking." ---Michael Roberts

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I saw them at the Wiliams Sonoma in suburban square yeaterday.

Thanks Greg. I called WS, but they say they only carry the glass jars of chestnuts (steamed, I think) in the stores. The candied chestnuts are only available online. Bummer. The recipe I am using only calls for chestnuts to decorate the cake, so it's not the END of the world, but I wanted to gild the lily and use the glaceed chestnuts instead of the steamed. It's hard to believe that they are so unavailable in Phila!

"Half of cooking is thinking about cooking." ---Michael Roberts

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It is so irritating how hard it is to find marrons glaces in the US. Here in Chicago, I have resorted to ordering them from Dean & Deluca, at a $7 markup to what the same box of 8 costs if you can find them in a store. (At least they offer standard shipping so you don't get soaked on that.) Zingermans advertise them too but when I tried to order they said they were sold out. And forget about getting the irregular/broken marrons like you used to be able to.

Turkish markets often carry jars of chestnuts in syrup; the brand is Uzungil or something like that. Not a substitute for marrons glaces but they are good in various desserts

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Its probably too late, but we have some beautiful marron glaces from Venchi (out of Piemonte) at Di Brunos. I'll probably put them on sale now that the holiday season is over!

Hope this helps!

Exceptional food + wine tours of Sicily & Puglia.

Export manager: regional Italian foods

Blogging at: Getting Lost in Sicily

"At the table, you forget your troubles."

- Sicilian proverb

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Its probably too late, but we have some beautiful marron glaces from Venchi (out of Piemonte) at Di Brunos.  I'll probably put them on sale now that the holiday season is over!

Hope this helps!

Hi Scase,

dB was the first place I looked! I called dB (9th St) ahead as I had SEEN them there in November, but didn't want to travel there unless you still had them. I was told you had them. When I got to the old dB, there was a line out the door, so I went first into the little dB down the street to see if perhaps they had them there, too. A very sweet young man there offered to go down the street to get them for me to spare my decrepit back the wait in line. (Sorry, I wish I could tell you his name.) He came back empty handed as he'd been told you didn't have any.

Thanks for letting me know that dB does have them. I live in the NW (a bit of a trip), so if I get down there while you still have them, I'll pick up a box to experiment with freezing them if you think that might work.

What is their shelf life? Is there any way to keep marron glaces? I have the impression they have a short shelf life. I use them to garnish a cake I make from time to time and would keep them as a pantry staple if they would not go stale (as I assume you only have them during the holidays). I've looked at recipes for the process of candying them and they indicate the homemade ones are good for about 2 weeks.)

Edited by Mottmott (log)

"Half of cooking is thinking about cooking." ---Michael Roberts

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I'm sorry that you had such a crazy experience down at 9th st. It does get a little nutty down there during holiday time! I had two brands here at the Chestnut St. Di Bruno Bros: La Florentine and Venchi. While the Florentine marrons glaces did sell out, there are a few boxes of the Venchi left. I could set one aside for you if you'd like. Just PM me with your name and number and I'll leave one at the customer service desk (underneath the stairs when you first walk in the main entrance).

As for their shelf life, I believe that they are good for around 8 months. At least this is what my vendor tells me (and she used to stock them for Epicure Market in Miami).

(By the way, on a chestnut side-note: we were roasting the remainder of our chestnuts in the kitchen today at Di Brunos - can you believe I'd never had a roasted chestnut?!? They were delicious - now I see what all the fuss is about!!!)

Talk to you soon,

Scott

Exceptional food + wine tours of Sicily & Puglia.

Export manager: regional Italian foods

Blogging at: Getting Lost in Sicily

"At the table, you forget your troubles."

- Sicilian proverb

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