Achilles was the son of the Nereid Thetis and of Peleus, the king of the Myrmidons. Zeus and Poseidon had been rivals for the hand of Thetis until Prometheus, the fore-thinker, warned Zeus of a prophecy that Thetis would bear a son greater than his father. For this reason, the two gods withdrew their pursuit, and had her wed Peleus.
According to the Achilleid, written by Statius in the 1st century AD, and to non-surviving previous sources, when Achilles was born Thetis tried to make him immortal by dipping him in the river Styx. However, she was interrupted by Peleus and she stopped leaving vulnerable the part of the body by which she held him: his left heel. After that, she abandoned both father and son in a rage.
Peleus entrusted Achilles to Chiron the Centaur, on Mount Pelion, to be reared. Thetis foretold that her son’s fate was either to gain glory and die young, or to live a long but uneventful life in obscurity. Achilles chose the former, and decided to take part in the Trojan war.
All this mythology takes place in central Greece and more specifically in the area of Thessaly. This is the area in which my father was born in a small mountainous village called Sklitro. Sklithro is a beautiful tiny village drown in chestnut and walnut trees. Actually, chestnuts from all this area are considered to be of the best quality in the whole country.
Our cottage has a big yard full of all these trees and every winter some of my father’s relatives make the picking and send some to us as well.
I love chestnuts in any form and I use them in cooking and baking. When winter comes I light the fireplace and bake them over the fire. They are the best. Although, they are in season during winter, we can enjoy them throughout it because of the modern ways of preserving and processing them. I had a can of this chestnut spread and I wanted desperately to use it someway. I didn’t want something fancy or fussy. So, I thought why not making it small truffles? These little sweet bites are out of this world delicious and so easy to make it is truly ridiculous. You can make them all at once or you can make them in batches. It is all up to you. With only two ingredients you can have these delicious and so elegant truffles everyone will love.
- 1 can 496 gr. / 17.5 oz. chestnut spread
- About 500 gr. / 1 lb Chocolate at least 60% cocoa
- Place the can of the spread in the freezer and leave it there until it becomes firm, about 2 hours.
- Fifteen minutes before the two hours, melt the chocolate and set aside to cool a bit.
- Take the can out of the freezer and with your melon cutter cut small balls of spread.
- Baptize them in the melted chocolate and place them on a tray covered with parchment paper.
- Place in the fridge for half an hour and they are all set.
- Remove and serve.
- 1 κονσέρβα κρέμας κάστανου
- Περίπου 500 γρ. σοκολάτα τουλάχιστον 60% κακάο
- Τοποθετήστε την κονσέρβα κάστανου στην κατάψυξη και αφήστε εκεί μέχρι να σφίξει, περίπου 2 ώρες.
- Δεκαπέντε λεπτά πριν από τις δύο ώρες, λιώστε τη σοκολάτα και αφήστε να κρυώσει λίγο.
- Βγάλτε την κονσέρβα από την κατάψυξη και με το εργαλείο που κόβει το πεπόνι σε μπαλάκια φτιάξτε μικρά μπαλάκια από κάστανο.
- Βουτήξτε τα στη λιωμένη σοκολάτα και τοποθετείστε τα σε ταψί καλυμμένο με λαδόκολλα.
- Βάλτε τα στο ψυγείο για μισή ώρα και είναι έτοιμα.
- Βγάλτε από το ψυγείο και σερβίρετε.
