Here's nuts to youA neat story about a very innocent looking nut called Hazel.
Hazel is the key word resounding around the world as one of approximately 15 shrubs or referred to as small trees growing in temperate climates. There are two native types in the United states; the Beaked hazel and the American hazel.The edible product of a hazel tree is called a cobnut In the elite society of the cuisine, cobnuts are called filberts, hazelnuts, or sometimes hazels. Initially, the nut's golden brown shell is enclosed in a papery covering jacket referred to as an involucre, a derivation of the word involucrum (wrapper). The nut's shell inside the wrapper is smooth, hard, thin, brittle, and usually about ˝ inch long. Wildlife will seek out the hazel bush for protection and food. Hazel bush branches are twisted, strong, and pliable. Throughout out the world different countries have special uses for the stems and limbs. They make decorative hoops, ornamentals of different shapes, handles for whips, and woven baskets. We must not forget the use of nut particles used in restaurants and bakeries that care. If you wish to find hidden water, cut a forked branch off the tree. Hold each of the forked ends with the long end pointed out in front of you parallel to the ground. This will seek out water and dip when used as a divining rod. It's time to float down to earth and get to the meat of things. The edible nut is a roundish, ovoid, white center with a flavor all its own. Do you actually see the filbert in its shell very often? No! Only during the Christmas holiday or special occasions. We use them for a special touch for an elegant arrangement on the table, or in a niche reserved for a nostalgic scene. Many times the remains of the nut is eaten in pastries and dinner specialties such as produced in the culinary cuisine of the famous chefs. At times when the almond nut harvest is low, the filbert will be substituted as a nut chopped, sliced, or ground and used as flour powder. Incidentally, the nut tastes better roasted than in the raw. Sometimes, larger filberts in the shell infiltrate the massive display of filberts found in the grocery stores. You buy a pound or two and as you crack them a nut falls out that has massive dimensions and your thoughts are--where on earth did that giant come from. Incidentally, all of the afore mentioned hazelnuts, filberts, hazels, or cobnuts will have a tissue paper thin brown covering over the nut when removed from the shell. 
Regardless, the main character of this nut lore is the little old white nut known throughout the world as a filbert—sometimes of course, known as a hazel nut.This is a little nutty, so I shall climb out of this tangled branched mess and concentrate on a tough nut to crack, the brown slippery shelled Brazil nut. Also, look for my last nutty rendition about the goober. |
