Nuts Come in 8 Different Varieties and Types

What are the similarities between a baseball game, a typical school lunch sandwich, and a party snack mix? Nuts. Nuts provide texture, crunch, and taste to a wide range of foods, including pastries, pastas, salads, pestos, and even fish, chicken, and beef meals. You can buy raw nuts online that becomes sweet when combined with honey, sugar, maple syrup, or chocolate, while preserving their bite and foundation characteristics. Their diminutive stature belies their significance as a component—they’re a force to be reckoned with.

Peanuts, almonds, pecans, and walnuts

These are the most popular nut varieties in the United States, and they’re found in sweeter foods the most. Nuts, on the other hand, are naturally healthy: While almonds have less fat (15 grammes per ounce, dry-roasted and unsalted) and macadamia nuts have more (21 grammes per ounce, dry-roasted and unsalted), they contain heart-healthy monounsaturated fats and omega-3s, as well as fibre and vitamin E, which are particularly important for vegetarians and vegans. Also, commercially available nut-based products such as almond and cashew butters, nut flours, and meals made from almonds, pecans, and hazelnuts are on the rise.

Pistachios Characteristics

The pistachio (technically a seed) is a popular ingredient in baklava, ma’amoul, haroseth, and halvah. It is native to portions of Western Asia and the Middle East. Our domestic market is dominated by California pistachios, but if you can, look for Turkish and Persian kinds, which are smaller, have a darker shell and skin, and are tastier.

Hazelnuts Characteristics

This spherical nut is a key ingredient in the popular sweet spread gianduja, most commonly known as Nutella. The hazelnut’s woodsy undertones bring out the chocolate’s inherent nuttiness, resulting in a match made in heaven. They’re edible raw, but you’ll want to roast them and remove the bitter peel to fully bring out the taste. Furthermore, roasting enhances their crunchiness, making them the ideal textural partner for salads and soups.

Cashews’ Characteristics

Thanks to Portuguese explorers and traders, this crescent-shaped South American nut has made its way into other cuisines such as Indian and Thai. Its almost-neutral flavour makes it an excellent contender for adding texture, shape, or crunch to a recipe. Cashew milk, like almond milk, is a healthful dairy substitute.

English walnut

This is another name for walnuts. Walnuts are one of the few nuts that may still be found in their shell, making them a favourite baking ingredient (depending on the season). Walnuts have a slightly bitter, dry taste due to the high tannin content of the ruffled flesh. (Avoid tannins, as well as pistachios, pecans, and cashews, if you suffer from migraines.) Walnuts’ astringency, on the other hand, gives them a wonderful complement to sweeter flavours.

Marcona almonds

These are rounder, flatter, and sweeter than normal almonds. They are imported from Spain. They’re normally sold pre-cooked, salted, and fried. Use them in their uncooked state if you wish to cook or bake with them.

Queensland nut, Australian nut, Macadamia nut, Macadamia nut, Macadamia nut, Macadamia nut, Macadamia nut, Mac

Characteristics

These huge, now widespread nuts, which were once exclusively available in Hawaii or Australia, are visibly rich with an almost buttery flavour. They go very well with fish when chopped up, as well as in baked products like cookies and pies.

Goober is another name for peanuts.

The peanut is officially a legume (like peas, lentils, and beans). But it is referred to as a nut in the culinary world. Aside from its low cost and year-round availability, the peanut’s high protein content is what makes it so appealing: One cup has 40 grammes of protein, making it the most protein-dense of the nut family. Raw peanuts have a rich earthiness to them that grows much stronger when roasted.

Almonds are available whole, sliced, and slivered; blanched; and with and without the skin, unlike many other nuts. They’re also marketed pulverised as flour for tortes and flourless cakes. The gentle sweetness of almonds is enhanced in items like almond extract, almond paste, and marzipan.

Pecans are native to North America, and they have a long history in American cuisine, where they are utilised in a variety of traditional Southern cuisines. Pecans are mostly grown in Georgia and Texas, and they’re sweeter than walnuts, therefore they’re mostly used in baking.