fruits are fermented in vats of water to soften
and remove the pulp, and the seeds are
washed, dried, and roasted or boiled, either in-
shell or shelled. The kernel has a distinctive
but mild flavor.
Hazelnuts Hazelnuts come from a few of the
15 species of mainly bushy trees in the
northern-hemisphere genus Corylus. Corylus
avellana and C. maxima are native to
temperate Eurasia and were widely exploited
in prehistoric times for their nuts and rapidly
produced shoots, which were used as walking
sticks and a surface for marshy ground. A
much taller tree, C. colurna, accounts for
much of the production in the Black Sea
region of Turkey. Another term for the nut is
“filbert,” which in the United Kingdom is
applied to the more elongated varieties, and
which may come from St. Philibert’s Day in
late August, when hazelnuts begin to ripen.
The late Roman cookbook of Apicius called