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You wouldn't know it from the way they are used in the kitchen, but nuts, seeds and eggs
have a lot in common. All three contain the basic chemical elements to start new lives, therefore
all are nearly complete foods, high in protein.
We use eggs often in all sorts of dishes from salads (mayonnaise) through main dishes to
desserts, but we restrict nuts and seeds primarily in desserts and snack foods. In fact, they have a
major role in the snack food industry, either by themselves or in sweet preparations like candy
bars. Central and Western European pastry kitchens are particularly fond of nuts. Tortes, which
are a specialty of that part of the world, actually substitute ground nuts for flour, adding a wealth
of both flavors and calories.
What are Nuts and Seeds
Are nuts different than seeds? Botanists say no. In fact, they view some of our most
popular nuts, like almonds and walnuts, as one-seeded fruits surrounded by a tough, dry layer,
the husk, rather than juicy flesh, like peaches have. It is happens, that these particular fruits we
cultivate for their pits. Other nuts, like Brazil nuts, coconuts and pine nuts, are truly seeds. Some
obvious seeds, like the sunflower seeds, amazingly to us, are fruits to the botanist. To confuse
things even more, our beloved peanut is not a nut but a legume, closely related to peas. (Don't let
the kids find this out or they'll be demanding peanuts as their green vegetable of choice.)
Different nuts grow on different parts of trees. Hazelnuts grow on shrubs instead of trees
and most seeds are a part of small annual plants. Since most common nuts grow on trees,
growers lump all nuts together and simply call them tree nuts.
This is all nice and fascinating, however, our own interest is what they do in the kitchen,
irrespective of where they grow. Fortunately, all nuts and seeds behave similarly in the oven and
in our cooking pots. Their fundamental nutrition is the same, too, high in oil and protein with
little carbohydrate and moisture.
The native American acorns
We have four common, edible native North American nuts—pecans, hazelnuts, black
walnuts and acorn. Piñion nut is also native, but only common locally in the Southwest. And
chestnut is American, too, but a disease wiped out nearly all American chestnut trees. Our native
Indians used all four nuts, as well as piñion nuts and chestnuts extensively.
Acorns grow on oak trees, and in northern California Indian tribes employed intensive
horticulture to increase the acorn crop from natural oak trees, particularly the acorn of black
oaks. This was by no means similar to today’s agriculture—they didn’t plant oak trees and
cultivate them. They combined the natural growth with clever techniques to promote higher
yields. In fact, without their aid, acorn yields would have been negligible, not a food source. In
nature pests destroy as much as 95 percent of the acorn crop. They used systematic, low-level
fires, that kept pests in control but also discouraged competing trees and undergrowth. They
altered the heavy underbrush terrain into park-like forests. Oak trees are resistant to fire so the
net result was more and healthier oak trees. Without underbrush harvesting was efficient and
easy.
play © erdosh 279
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