Evans-Hylton Patrick - Nuts: 50 tasty recipes, from crunchy to creamy and savory to sweet

Thank you to Gary Luke of Sasquatch Books for the opportunity to work with your wonderful company again. I greatly appreciate the offer to pen Nuts .

Also, thank you to Sasquatch Books production editor Emma Reh for great insight and guidance, and to Diane Sepanski for detailed copyediting, Joyce Hwang for gorgeous design, and Hilary McMullen for outstanding photography.

Thank you, too, to my agent, Michael Psaltis of The Culinary Entertainment Agency, for his assistance with this project, for all his guidance, and for his friendship.

And to my family and friends, much appreciation to you for all your support in letting me bounce off ideas and thoughts, and for lending encouragement along the way.

Nuts are one of the oldest known foods. Prehistoric humans consumed them regularly as part of their dietseven types of nuts were found at a 780,000-year-old archaeological site in Israels Hula Valley in 2002.

What were prehistoric humans eating? Among the nuts were pistachios, and alongside were rudimentary nutcrackers to open them up.

References to other nuts go back centuries. Walnuts were loved by the Romans, who named them Juglans regia , or Jupiters royal acorn. The Bible references almonds and pistachios as among the choice fruits of the land in Genesis 43:11.

Portable and high in protein, nuts went with early travelers and are noted as being must-haves along the 4,000-mile Silk Road, which connected trade between China and other parts of the Asian continent with the West some 2,000 years ago. George Washington loved Brazil nuts and pecans so much that he carried them around in his pockets; John Adams quipped that he cracked them open with his teeth, resulting in the need for dentures (which, by the way, were not wooden). And, following the Civil War, the peanut became Americas nut, synonymous with treats at the ballpark and circus. Shortly after this, around the turn of the last century, another one of our favorite treats was inventedpeanut butter.

Nuts are such a part of our culinary experience that its easy to take them for granted. There are classic recipes involving nuts, such as marzipan, pesto, and satay. There are old-school dishes such as trout amandine, and snacks from peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to banana nut bread. Its hard to imagine snacking without a bowl of mixed nuts or a holiday without a nut-laden fruitcake. Modern takes include nut milks and cheeses, part of a vegan or vegetarian diet for many.

But these examples just scratch the surface. There are many types of nuts, and many ways to enjoy them.

The word nut is derived from the Latin nux , which references the nutmeat inside the shell. And that is what, by definition, a nut is: edible meat, or a kernel/seed, surrounded by a hard or woody shell. These true nuts are sometimes called tree nuts to differentiate them from other edibles that people call nuts, such as peanuts. The nuts focused on in this book are the most common and accessible nuts:

ALMOND: A drupe, which is the stone or pit surrounding the seed of a fleshy fruit, almonds have their origin in the Middle East; today California is the largest grower. Almonds are eaten raw or toasted, either out of hand or in both savory and sweet dishes. They are also commonly made into almond butter, almond milk, and almond oil, and flavor almond extract and liqueurs such as amaretto.