Connecting with nuts on a deeper level

What do you know about cashews? (public domain photo)

No, I'm not talking about crazy trolls on your vegan posts. I'm talking about the nuts you eat. What do you really know about them? Many vegans rely on nuts and legumes for the majority of their protein. They're just not that into tofu or consider it to be a processed food. Nuts are nutritious, delicious and versatile. They're used in everything from snacks to desserts to pesto sauce. They're a favorite food of many Americans, vegan or otherwise. What do we really know about nuts? Here are some fun facts.

Cashews area very popular nut. Did you know their shells are poisonous?

Cashew nut shells contain urushiol. The nut of the cashew cannot be eaten until all the urushiol has been removed. This is done by steaming the shelled nuts. Don't touch the shell either. Touching the shell of the cashew can give you a nasty skin rash.

The Macadamia nut originated in Australia.

However, 90% of all macadamia nuts are now grown in Hawaii. Macadamia nuts are not picked. They are harvested after they ripen and fall from the tree. The macadamia nut has the hardest of all nut shells. It takes 300 pounds of pressure to crack this nut.

Sunflower seeds are often considered to be a nut.

They're actually the seed of the sunflower. The tallest sunflower ever grown was 25 feet 5 ½ inches. It was grown in the Netherlands in 1986. The sunflower is Russia's national flower. They grow the most sunflowers in the world. The sunflower got its name because the flower always faces the sun.

Filberts and hazelnuts are from the same family.

They're often thought to be the same nut. The filbert is often ground up and used in baked goods, in other countries, when almond prices are too high. The filbert was named for St. Filberts day as this is when the filbert bush blooms. The majority of hazelnuts are grown in Oregon.

Peanuts are used to make many items.

An Australian has even invented a car that runs on these tasty nuts. A peanut is actually a legume and not a nut. Peanuts accompanied Allen Shepard on his mission to the moon. The original use for peanut butter was as a nutritional supplement for the elderly. Of all the states, Georgia and Texas produce the most peanuts.

California produces 70% of the worlds' walnuts.

Walnuts are harvested by machines. First the trees are shaken so the nuts fall to the ground. They are then blown into a pile away from the tree. Then the nuts are vacuumed up. Some jewelers use walnut shells, finely ground to polish gemstones.

In ancient Rome, newlyweds were showered with almonds as a symbol of fertility.

Almonds are not actually nuts, but closer to a peach type pit. Bitter almonds are used in amaretto liqueur. This type of almond has to be processed in order to remove the toxin, prussic acid, which is used to make cyanide.

Outside Source:
Tidbits Newspaper - Denver Metro Edition - October 13-19, 2008

This post was previously published by this author on a closed Yahoo! Property.