Windfall Hazelnuts

[Keith_Beef]

I was picking up chips that had flown off the wood I had split last weekend, when I noticed just how many hazelnuts were on the ground under the hazel tree. I picked one up, checked the shell for holes and, finding none, cracked it between my teeth; to my, I surprise found a nice, big, juicy kernel inside

So I decided to gather a few more and open them... It took me about two minutes to gather a nice little pile.



And then it took me about an hour and a half to open them. Around a third were good.


Doing this kind of thing reminds me how easy life is for us today, and also reminds me why hazelnuts were relatively expensive when I was a child.

 

[Wander]

A couple of weeks ago we had a stiff wind and that shook lots of hazelnuts off the trees.
I cracked a few open, not expecting much, and my expectations proved correct.
Problem is, by the time they are ready to eat the squirrels have generally got to them. It's still a bit too early but tomorrow when I go out for my regular Sunday stroll I'll have a look to see what I can find and see if they're ready yet.
Nut season is my favourite time of year (closely followed by bramble season. Fortunately one comes after the other) because there's something so satisfying whilst out for a walk to be able to pick a quick snack from a hedge blissfully lost in one's own world, crunching on a tasty kernel.
I've got myself all looking forward to tomorrow now...

 

[Broch]

Sadly, I can no longer eat raw hazelnuts; my throat itches and swell up as soon as one goes in my mouth
I'm OK when they are cooked, just not raw.

 

[Robson Valley]

Yeah, I' a member of the Cooked Nuts tribe, myself.
A little oil, a little salt, into the 300F oven for 10 minutes.

 

[Limaed]

I have a similar experience, any ideas what’s going on? Bit of an allergic reaction perhaps?

Sadly, I can no longer eat raw hazelnuts; my throat itches and swell up as soon as one goes in my mouth
I'm OK when they are cooked, just not raw.

have

 

[Janne]

And I am the guy that is happy when people crack nuts and other hard things with their teeth.

I estimate maybe around 75 30 minute slots get booked each year?

Take a nut cracker in the pocket, and save some money!

 

[Broch]

I have a similar experience, any ideas what’s going on? Bit of an allergic reaction perhaps?

I don't know. Attached is a table of the chemical composition of nut oils - very complicated

My suspicion is that I have allergic reaction to (and becoming more so) one or more components that evaporate off with heat.

 

[Robson Valley]

Beyond the plant oils, nuts are very rich in storage proteins.
As such, mostly indigestible until damaged by the heat of cooking. (Boiled eggs don't hatch.)

This is part of the reason for eating sprouted seeds = let the plant take the storage proteins apart
as occurs in germination.

 

[Janne]

Sprouted coconuts are an ancient ( paleo) way of eating them.

The ancients knew a thing or two!

Roasted hazelnuts are hard on a sensitive stomach.

 

[Keith_Beef]

And I am the guy that is happy when people crack nuts and other hard things with their teeth.

I estimate maybe around 75 30 minute slots get booked each year?

Take a nut cracker in the pocket, and save some money!

I prefer walnuts to hazelnuts, but I crack those open in my hand, or prise them open with the tip of my pocket knife.

I found an almond tree last week; it's in somebody's garden, but the branches hang over the boundary wall and over the footpath, so I didn't feel any qualms about taking two or three to try them. Nice flavour, smaller and a bit less sweet than a commercial variety. I would not be surprised to learn that the people living in the house don't even know that they have an almond tree...

 

[Janne]

Sounds like an okdfashioned Almond!

Ask, they might be happy for you to pick more!

 

[Keith_Beef]

I love finding food like this. It reminds me of when I was about ten years old, I'd go along the river into the abandoned allotments where the plants had gone wild, and find all sorts of thing; mostly redcurrants, rhubarb, apples and plums.

A while ago (25 years, or so) I rented a cottage for four days in a tiny little village on the island of Crete, and lived on almost nothing but tea (tea bags abandoned by previous holidaymakers) and pomegranates, almonds, and Barbary figs harvested from the garden.