Seriously, You Gotta Know Your Nuts!

The time has come to get to know nuts a bit better and crack some of their mysteries.

Nut fact #1 – None of the following are actually nuts. Only hazelnuts, chestnuts, acorns and some of their relatives belong to the group of the so-called true nuts. Sorry, but if you were looking for a biologically accurate text about nuts, your article is in another castle. This one is about nuts in the culinary sense.

Coconuts

coconutsIf you suddenly find yourself lacking blood plasma on a tropical island (we’ve all been there), coconut water may very well be the thing for you. It was successfully used to treat wounded soldiers during the Pacific War. And here’s a fun article showing that you (probably) would survive an emergency IV using coconut water. Hopefully, others wouldn’t think you’re some kind of nutcase.

Cashews

cashew-fruitvvThe cashew is the master of camouflage. Well, that is if you need to blend in in a large group of bell peppers with beans hanging from the bottom, since that is more or less what it’s mimicking. But keep in mind that the life of a cashew is nut easy. The sucky part is that one fruit (called an “apple”) only yields a single cashew, so the next time you eat a pack of mixed nuts, hold a moment of silence (preferably accompanied by crunching noises) for all those “apples” that had to give their lives for your enjoyment of it.

Brazil nuts

 

brazil_nuts

The Brazil nut, loved by those who enjoy munching on something big and oily, likes playing hard to get. Imagine you have a coconut which, when cracked, contains several walnuts with shell and everything. That pretty much describes the Brazil nut’s nutception (but I heard you like shells, so there shouldn’t be a problem with that).

Peanuts

peanuts (1)The peanut may be the least nutty nut of all these non-nuts, since it grows underground and is, in fact, closer related to peas and beans than any other nut. Americans are so nuts about peanuts that there are 10 peanut-related holidays in Chase’s Calendar of Events.

Pine nuts

 

pine-nuts

Did you know pines also have nuts? Loved and cherished by squirrels, some of them are actually edible and an essential ingredient for pesto sauce. However, eating too much pine nuts might result in a weird symptom called “pine mouth”. In a nutshell, it causes more or less everything you eat for the next 1-3 days taste like you were trying to snack on a rusty pipe (the effect on the taste of rusty pipes eaten in this period hasn’t been studied yet).

 

 

 

P.S.: Nice try, guys.