Caution! This Page May Contain Nuts
At some point this party season you'll linger near a snack table. But how much do you really know about nuts? Fourteen party nuts rated, with a Nutty Professor fact for each.
At some point in the next few months you’ll linger near a snack table. But how much do you really know about nuts?
Roasted Almonds
The saltiest nut on the page. A decent party snack if only to keep people drinking their thirst away.
Nutty Professor: Bitter almonds contain cyanide. But the sweet almonds you buy in shops are non-toxic and can be used to make marzipan, nougat, amaretti and curry.
Wasabi Peanuts
Bright green, weirdly addictive and producing a vapour that stimulates the nasal passage more than the tongue.
Nutty Professor: Wasabi is a plant related to horseradish and mustard. It’s difficult to make, so anything smothered in the stuff is expensive.
Hot Chilli Cashews
These fellas taste as good as nuts ever taste, but leave your breath smelling like a Walrus after a seafood buffet.
Nutty Professor: Cashews aren’t actually nuts. They’re seeds, and a good source of magnesium, so useful for making your bones all strong.
Pistachios
Sure, pistachio skin sticks in your teeth. Yes, the discarded shells will get trampled into your carpet. But, they’re more addictive than World of Warcraft. So what the hell.
Nutty Professor: Between them Iran, Turkey and Syria produce 90% of the world’s pistachio supplies.
Roasted & Salted Peanuts
Nutty Professor: Peanuts aren’t nuts at all, but legumes – part of the bean family. They grow underground and are closely related to peas and lentils.
Wild Pecan Nuts
Nothing wild about these. Once you get over the fact they’re shaped like the alien ships in Independence Day, you’re left with disappointment at their bland taste.
Nutty Professor: A handful a day can lower cholesterol levels as effectively as proper cholesterollowering pills.
Golden Honey Nut Cashews
They taste like a fresh batch of sweet cinema popcorn, only nuttier. A fistful of these babies is a one-way ticket to tooth decay Town, but worth it.
Nutty Professor: Ground cashew nuts can be used to create antivenom for certain snake bites.
Salt & Pepper Peanuts
The nut equivalent of wearing a bow tie – quirky and eccentric, but basically just a cry for attention.
Nutty Professor: Peanuts provide over 30 essential nutrients, are naturally cholesterol-free and have more protein than any other nut.
Brazil Nuts
If you like parties where people discuss the energy agenda, these are perfect. If you like boozing until your nipples fall off, maybe not.
Nutty Professor: Shake a packet of mixed nuts and the Brazil nuts will always end up on top. Science calls this ‘The Brazil Nut Effect.’
Satay Nuts
The powderiness isn’t ideal unless you enjoy having dust all over your hands, face and clothes.
Nutty Professor: Satay is a kind of south-east Asian shish kebab – skewered and grilled meat, covered in peanut sauce, a delicious soup that Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand all claim to have invented.
Walnuts
You know where you are with a walnut. Light and healthy, good in a salad, reminds you of a country walk in the autumn and comfy jumpers. Not really party food.
Nutty Professor: Medieval folk believed Walnuts could cure headaches, due to their brain-like shape. Wrong.
Mississippi BBQ Pistachios
They’ll annihilate your taste-buds, but you’d sell your mother’s watch for another handful.
Nutty Professor: Scientists reckon pistachios have been part of the human diet for about 9,000 years, but it took us until the ’40s to turn it into an ice-cream.
Roasted & Salted Cashews
You could eat these buttery masterpieces all day. You’d probably die of thirst thanks to their extreme saltiness, but you could try.
Nutty Professor: You’re unlikely to ever find a cashew sold in its shell because the lining contains anacardic acid, a toxic skin irritant.
Hazelnuts
All eating hazelnuts does is remind you how delicious Nutella is, then remind you how delicious Fererro Rocher are, then make you sad you’re not eating either.
Nutty Professor: Turkey accounts for a whopping 75% of the world’s hazelnut production – about 625,000 tonnes a year.
From the December 2011 issue of FHM India.
Spotted a mistake, or your photo used without permission? Report a correction
in your inbox