Brown Hazelnuts Natural

Natural nuts are unroasted nuts. Natural nuts are delicious for stir-frying or for use in recipes and in muesli. Natural nuts are, however, chewier than roasted nuts. For that reason, roasted nuts are often (though not always) considered tastier.

Hazelnuts are often imported from Turkey. Turkey accounts for about 80% of total world production. Other countries that produce hazelnuts are Italy and Spain.

Hazelnuts are fruits that grow on a large shrub known as the hazel. This is a bush three to five metres tall. It only bears its first fruits after ten years. The hazelnuts are 1.5 to 2 cm in size and egg-shaped. They sit inside a round, dark brown, hard shell. Unlike other nut trees, the hazel does not bear large flowers in spring. The blossom consists of small buds from which two or three hazelnuts grow.

The nuts are cracked and cleaned only just before processing. They are then sorted by size. Further processing may involve roasting, blanching or grinding.