What Do Chestnuts Taste Like?

Seed, raw or cooked - which one would you prefer? I love them roasted. 

Well, how would you describe the taste then? 

"A somewhat astringent taste raw, it improves considerably when cooked and is delicious baked with a floury texture and a flavour rather like sweet potatoes" they keep saying.  It sounds so ordinary, doesn't it? There must be some other adjectives to describe that taste but which ones?

A friend of mine, after much thought, decided that chestnut to him is the father he has been missing. I appreciated his ability to describe the taste so delicately. However, what concerns me more than his conscientiousness is the fact that he compared the chestnut taste to the lack of hope in his relation with his father. This has been constantly bothering me - what could it be that made him feel that way when he ate some well-roasted chestnuts? 

Until... until I came across Dr. Edward Bach's flower remedies today. All that time, I was wondering whether chestnuts contain some magical substance that exceptionally works on people and unlocks the doors to hope that could heal all the wounds of the past. Then, I read about how chestnut is used in Bach flower remedies - the keywords for prescribing it are 'Extreme mental anguish', Hopelessness' and 'Despair'. Let me quote Dr. Edward Bach:

“For those moments which happen to some people when the anguish is so great as to seem to be unbearable. When the mind or body feels as if it had borne to the uttermost limit of its endurance, and that now it must give way. When it seems there is nothing but destruction and annihilation left to face.”

It can't be a simple coincidence. It must be the very magical content that I've been tracing for weeks. I still do not know what exactly it is - starch, one of those various sugars, unsaturated fat, or even vitamin C it contains. Whatever it is, it is something to cheer up the souls in need of hope. Perhaps, Dr. Bach and his remedies are not so effective after all, who knows. However, when you feel hopeless despair, and you feel an intense sorrow and feel destroyed by it, as Dr. Bach indicated, roast some sweet chestnuts and eat them. They must help. Reassuring, isn't it?

The photograph below shows a sheet of vintage water slide decal made in Italy by Art Deco-Cals. I'd been keeping it since I got stuck with finding the right adjectives to describe the taste of chestnuts. I decided to post it here after I read Dr. Bach's interpretation of chestnuts' healing power. Please drop me a line, if you want the decal. I'll post it to you immediately. Even the decal of chestnuts might cheer you up. Who knows?