supermarket produce managers refuse to allocate space for them on the more costly cool shelf

with the vegetables, where they belong. Chestnuts especially detest being put in the warm center

aisle with the rest of the nuts, and rightly so—they belong with the vegetables.

Points To Remember

Nuts and seeds are high in proteins but also high in oil and calories. The saturated oil content

is relatively low except in coconut. Chestnut is an exception—low in oil but high in starch.

We have 13 kinds of nuts and four kinds of seeds that we regularly use in the kitchen.

Nearly all nuts and seeds benefit from roasting with dramatic improvement in flavor. Pecans

and walnuts are flavorful even when raw but they still gain from roasting. Fresh-roasted

flavor fades fast so roast just enough for short-term use.

Previously roasted but stale nuts also benefit from to re-roasting.

Always buy nuts and seeds very fresh and preferably whole. Chop and grind them yourself

for optimum freshness and longest keeping quality.

Unshelled nuts have long shelflife, but you should keep shelled nuts in a cool, dry place, or

refrigerated and frozen storage. They oxidize quickly and turn rancid.

Coconuts and chestnuts are perishable like vegetables.

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