While on our most recent trip to the Big Island, my husband and I visited the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Visitor Center. We’d flown over the orchards before. Thousands of rows of macadamia trees stretch over the landscape. Now they run alongside chocolate farms, where Hershey’s is endeavoring to grow chocolate within the US.
When I was little, there was a macadamia nut tree growing about a block from my house. It wasn’t large or exceptionally bountiful, but it produced enough to nuts to make it worth my while to take a short detour on my way home from school. Each day, when the nuts were falling, I’d hang a left at the cul-de-sac before my own and nonchalantly drop to adjust my slipper as I scooped up a few.
Macadamia nut shells are extraordinarily hard. A large rock might do the trick to break the nut loose, but I always took my nuts home to pound free with my grandfathers hammer. My grandfather would laugh as he watched me. “Don’t eat too many!” he’d warn. Too many macadamia nuts… is there any such thing?
Macadamia Nuts are Healthy
The fat in macadamias is primarily monounsaturated — one of the good fats necessary for healthy living. In fact, a study published in the Journal of Nutrition in 2008 found that when enjoyed in moderation as part of a healthy diet macadamia nuts can reduce total and LDL cholesterol. Macadamias also contain antioxidants, which play a role in protecting the body from damage caused by free radicals.
Cooking with Macadamia Nuts
In recipes, macadamia nuts can be substituted for most other nuts. I prefer purchasing whole unsalted raw nuts for cooking, and chopping or toasting them as needed. Macadamias are delicious in cookies, pie, on cakes, in pastries, in chocolate, or raw.
Toasting macadamias releases some of the oils, yielding a more fragrant flavor. However, it also reduces storage life, so only toast as many as you need for a given recipe. To toast macadamias, spread them onto a cookie sheet and place in a preheated 350° oven until golden, approximately 10-15 minutes. Let the toasted nuts cool before chopping or using in recipe.
They lose their fresh, sweet, almost buttery flavor quickly if not stored correctly, so it’s important that you buy fresh, and use them up. If you must store open macadamias, do so in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The high fat content in macadamias means they can become rancid when stored or exposed to the air for too long. Even slightly spoiled nuts can ruin an otherwise well crafted recipe. Make sure you test the macadamias you will use in a recipe, even if they are fresh from the store, by smelling them first, then tasting them if they smell fine. If they don’t smell good – throw them out without tasting. Making sure the macadamia nuts you use are fresh will help ensure successful recipes – at the least your recipes will smell lovely.
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