Nuts

							Title:
Nuts

Word Count:
3224

Summary:
Everything you ever wanted to know a
bout nuts.
Keywords:
brazil nut, macadamia nut, almond s
eed, legume, tuber peanut, bunya bu
nya, pine nut,red bopple nut,cocunu
t candle nut, palm nut,macadamia nu
t,water chestnut, chestnut cashew n
ut, ginkgo nut, hazelnut

Article Body:
Since the earliest of time and even
 before agriculture was used by the
 Greeks to have better food resourc
es, `Nuts' were a stable food and n
utritional source in the diet of ma
nhood in the dark ages. During tho
se times, nuts were plentiful, as t
here were much more forests as toda
y, and well liked for their easy st
orage, which enabled people to keep
  them for times in which food was h
ard to find. (Winter, rainy season
, etc).

There is evidence that as far back
as the second century B.C., the Rom
ans distributed sugar almonds on sp
ecial occasions such as marriages a
nd births.

Nuts have their place in all cultur
es and through almost all cuisine a
round the world. Nuts are liked by
 people of all ages for their subtl
e taste and high fat and carbohydra
te content. It is this subtle tast
e that Chefs like when creating new
 dishes and variations.

DESCRIPTION & SPECIES

Under the category nuts, we underst
and anything from a seed to a legum
e or tuber. The peanut, as an examp
le, is a legume, the Brazil nut and
 macadamia nut are seeds and almond
s are the seed of a fruit similar t
o a peach.

Botanically nuts are single seeded
fruits with a hard or leathery shel
l that contain a edible kernel, whi
ch is enclosed in a soft inner skin.

Generally, all nut trees grow slowl
y but live long. Trees of walnut,
chestnut or pecan continue to produ
ce nuts, often more than hundred ye
ars after planting.

Nut trees of any species are found
all over the world. Almonds for ex
ample are found in California, Spai
n, Morocco, Italy and even Australi
a, where as the walnut can be found
 anywhere from North America to the
 Andes and Persia to Australia. Asi
a also has a great variety of nuts.
 Ginkgo nuts in China, candle nuts
in Indonesia and Malaysia, coconut
in throughout southern Asia, cashew
 nuts in India and Malaysia and the
 Philippines, chestnuts in China an
d Japan, and the water chestnut whi
ch is found in China, Japan, Korea
and the East Indies.

SOME OF THE BETTER KNOWN NUTS :

ALMOND

Scientist consider the almond as a
stone fruit, much like cherries, pe
aches and prunes.

Because most people only know the s
eed (stone) of this fruit, it is ge
nerally accepted as a nut.

Almond on the tree, look like small
 green peaches. When ripe the shel
l will open and reveal the nut in i
ts shell.

There are various varieties of almon
ds.

The bitter almond is in fact the ke
rnel of the apricot, which was foun
d growing wild in China as far back
 as the late Tang Dynasty (AD 619-9
07).

This same apricot was taken to Euro
pe and became the apricot fruit, wh
ich is now enjoyed all over the wor
ld. The bitter almond kernel is to
xic in its raw state and must be bo
iled quickly and poached in a oven
before being further used. It is p
rimarily used in Chinese desserts l
ike the almond bean curd.
The sweet almond is generally confi
ned for fresh consumption. In 1986
, California alone produced 70,000
tons of almonds, which is half of t
he world's production. The almond
has been cultivated around the Medi
terranean since ancient times and c
an still be found wild in Algeria a
nd around the black sea. Sweet alm
onds can be bought whole, shelled,
cut in 1/2 with skin, without skin,
  flaked, blanched, slivered ground
roasted or salted. they are used fo
r snacks, marzipan, confectionery,
and desserts as well as for the pro
duction of liqueur essence, oil and
  cosmetic products.

BUNYA BUNYA PINE NUT

The bunya bunya tree is a member of
 the pine family and grows almost e
verywhere in Australia. Originally
 the trees originated in the area o
f Brisbane and Rockhampton in Queen
sland Australia. Only the female t
rees are producing a 2cm x 2.5cm nu
t in the pinecone.

In the old days, the bunya bunya pi
ne nuts were stable food for the ab
origines and also used in ceremonia
ls. These days, the nuts gain in p
opularity through the trend of nati
ve food in Australia (bush food) in
 recent years.

The nut is rich is carbohydrate, si
milar to the chestnut, and therefor
e used more like a potato than a nu
t. the bunya bunya nuts can be eat
en raw but are usually boiled for e
asy removing of the skin. Shelled n
uts are then butter fried and flavo
red with pepper or sugar, or added
to stews and soups.

RED BOPPLE NUT

The red bopple nuts are a relative
of the macadamia nut, and native to
 the tropical rain forest of the Ea
st Coast of Australia.

The nut is about the same size as a
 hazelnut and has a thick (0.5cm 0
1cm), woody husk with a bright red
outer skin, which only appears if t
he nut is fully ripe.

In contrary to most other nuts, the
 red bopple nut is very low on fat,
 but very high in calcium and potas
sium. the low fat content make thi
s nut very easy digestible. The nu
ts are eaten raw or toasted.

COCONUT

"He who plants a coconut tree", the
 saying goes, "plants food and drin
k, vessels and clothing, a habitati
on for himself and a heritage for h
is children". Indeed every part of
 the coconut is used, but only the
coconut milk and the coconut meat a
re foods. The shell is used as cha
rcoal, the husk is used to make rop
es, clothing and brushes, and the t
runk of the tree and leaves are use
d for roofs of houses and building
material respectively.

The fruit of the palm `cocos nucife
ra' has an edible kernel and theref
ore qualifies as a nut. The palm t
ree is native to the Philippines, M
alaysia, Brazil and Indonesia, and
can produce 50 - 100 nuts a year, o
ver a life span of 70 years. Cocon
ut palms grow best close to the sea
side but have been proven to withst
and high altitude, although the pro
duction rate is diminishing as furt
her away from the sea the tree grows.

The large thick green pod encloses
a brown fibrous husk around a brown
  shell , which contains a layer of
soft white flesh and the clear wate
r in the center. Sub-species found
  only on one island of the Seychell
es, in the Indian Ocean, produces a
  nut often weighing more than 20 kg
, which needs 10 years to ripen.

Coconuts are the worlds most commer
cially used nuts. Especially the m
eat, or copra, as it is called afte
r sun drying, is vital for the expo
rt industries, in coconut growing c
ountries. The coconut is a importa
nt food source especially in South
East Asia, India, Brazil and the So
uth Pacific Islands.

The copra can be brought shredded o
r desiccated and is used in confect
ioneries, ice creams and to coat ch
icken or fish for frying. However m
uch of it is pressed for its oil al
so called coconut butter as it is w
hite and fatty at room temperature.
  Not only is it used for cooking a
nd to make margarine, but it also g
oes into soaps, detergents, shampoo
s, face cream, perfumes and candles.

It is also a major ingredient in gl
ycerin, synthetic rubber, safety gl
ass and hydraulic brake fluid. Coco
nut juice or milk is the natural ju
ice of the nut, but not the water i
nside the coconut. It is won by shr
edding the raw coconut meat, then a
dding water and straining the mixtu
re through a cotton cloth. The coc
onut milk has then the consistency
and color of skim milk and is avail
able canned or frozen.

CANDLE NUT

The candle nut gets her name, from
when threaded tightly on the midrib
  of a palm leaf it has been used a
 primitive candle. More recently,
the nuts were grounded to a paste,
mixed with copra (grated coconut me
at) and ten formed into a candle.

Candlenuts are the seed of the cand
le berry tree native to Indonesia a
nd Malaysia but widely spread throu
ghout south East Asia, the South Pa
cific and Sri Lanka.

The nut has a very high content on
fat and is valued for the extracted
 oil for lighting as well as cookin
g. The nut is colored gray to blac
k, about 5cm in diameter, with a th
in, papery husk containing one or t
wo nuts.

Candlenut oil for lighting purposes
 is extracted by roasting the nuts
when they are only half ripe as oil
 for cooking is extracted by roasti
ng the nuts when they are fully rip
e. For human consumption, the nuts
 have to be roasted as raw once hav
e been causing sicknesses.

Ripe candle nuts are roasted, then
pounded into a meal and mixed with
salt, chilies or shrimp paste for u
sage in curries or as a spicy condi
ment to curries. Traditionally, th
e Javanese have roasted the nuts fo
r eating in the whole.

PALM NUT

The palmyra palm native to most Sou
th East Asian Countries produces a