# Nuts that are fun to crack and eat **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 27, 2015, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuts-that-are-fun-to-crack-and-eat/723632 "2015-06-27T16:14:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuts-that-are-fun-to-crack-and-eat/723632/21 "2015-06-27T18:23:08Z")
I like the texture of brazil nuts. I like to just shave it against my bottom incisors. Which Now that I have written it, I suppose it very wierd, but very few other food have that same interesting texture, coconut is similar though. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuts-that-are-fun-to-crack-and-eat/723632/22 "2015-06-27T18:29:37Z")
Cracking walnuts is fun. Doing all the processing to peel the flesh off **is not**. > [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Sunflower seeds. (Okay not a nut, but allee-samee.) > > FWIW, I’ve eaten them since I was a kid and never liked or mastered the “pop a handful in your mouth” technique. I crack them individually with my front teeth. How many pieces do you crack it into? I had two rats as a kid, brothers. One would **always** crack the shell into two pieces, the other three pieces. It was uncanny. > [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > That’s because it’s not a nut; it’s the seed of a small apple-like fruit. [WTF pic](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/64/Cashew_apples.jpg/1280px-Cashew_apples.jpg). You can use the fruit part as well, most notably to [get drunk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feni_%28liquor%29). > [@MLS](#): > > Most fun to crack, I guess pecans or almonds. Black walnuts are nice if you’re angry at someone and want to smash something with a hammer. Or Rickon Stark. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuts-that-are-fun-to-crack-and-eat/723632/23 "2015-06-27T19:09:44Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > How many pieces do you crack it into? I had two rats as a kid, brothers. One would **always** crack the shell into two pieces, the other three pieces. It was uncanny. Disproof of the parity rule, right there in your own living room. Two or four, but I ain’t no rat. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuts-that-are-fun-to-crack-and-eat/723632/24 "2015-06-27T19:16:51Z")
Can anybody tell me about [Pine nuts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_nut)? I love them in Asian dishes and in the little bags like peanuts come in at the snack counter. But are they in shells or what? ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuts-that-are-fun-to-crack-and-eat/723632/25 "2015-06-27T19:36:27Z")
Yes. [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/KoreanPineSeeds.jpg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/KoreanPineSeeds.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuts-that-are-fun-to-crack-and-eat/723632/26 "2015-06-27T19:38:25Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Yes. [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/KoreanPineSeeds.jpg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/KoreanPineSeeds.jpg) Cool! Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuts-that-are-fun-to-crack-and-eat/723632/27 "2015-06-27T19:51:35Z")
The toughest nuts to crack, by far, are black walnuts. Normal nutcrackers won’t work on them at all. There are [special nutcrackers](http://www.hammonsnutemporium.com/pc_product_detail.asp?key=5C0ED34FE87D43F38B214A3B5A448B0D) made for them that use multiple compound leverage. Some people put them in sacks and drive their cars over them. However you do it, you’ll end up with bits and pieces of nutmeat, not nice walnut halves like you can get with English walnuts. There are some varieties of almond that have shells so thin you can remove them with your fingers. These can be as much fun to eat as peanuts. In answer to **Zeldar** , pine nuts are usually sold with the shells removed. The shells are very thin and easy to crack, although they don’t separate into two neat pieces like sunflower seed shells do. Pine nuts roasted in the shell are a real pleasure - they have more flavor than pre-shelled pine nuts - but good luck finding them. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuts-that-are-fun-to-crack-and-eat/723632/28 "2015-06-27T20:00:10Z")
Thanks for the info, **Jeff Lichtman**. Side issue: does anybody know what’s the largest nut? Apparently NOT the [Coconut!](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut) ☹ ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuts-that-are-fun-to-crack-and-eat/723632/29 "2015-06-27T20:01:17Z")
The kid’s boyfriend saw a bowl of pecans on my coffee table and asked what they were. We told him what they were and he asked how to get the meat out of the shell. We said just crack them in your hands and proceeded to do so. He tries and tries unsuccessfully, looking a bit embarrassed. He only had one in his hand! So, he tries two, and immediately turns one into mush. There’s some nut cracking fun for ya. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuts-that-are-fun-to-crack-and-eat/723632/30 "2015-06-27T20:01:47Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Yes. [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/KoreanPineSeeds.jpg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/KoreanPineSeeds.jpg) You fight ignorance, Sir. I had believed the pine cone scales to be their shells. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuts-that-are-fun-to-crack-and-eat/723632/31 "2015-06-27T20:05:12Z")
Here ya go, Zeldar- coco de mer > **[Lodoicea](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lodoicea)** > > Lodoicea, commonly known as the sea coconut, coco de mer, or double coconut, is a monotypic genus in the palm family. The sole species, Lodoicea maldivica, is endemic to the islands of Praslin and Curieuse in the Seychelles. It has the biggest seed in a plant. It formerly also was found on the small islets of St Pierre, Chauve-Souris, and Ile Ronde (Round Island), all located near Praslin, but had become extinct there for a time until recently reintroduced. > The name of the genus Lodoicea is ... ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuts-that-are-fun-to-crack-and-eat/723632/32 "2015-06-27T20:08:46Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Here ya go, Zeldar- coco de mer > [Lodoicea - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lodoicea) Far out! Need some for cookies or candy! ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuts-that-are-fun-to-crack-and-eat/723632/33 "2015-06-27T21:44:35Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > You fight ignorance, Sir. I had believed the pine cone scales to be their shells. Man, I can’t believe you didn’t know that! Err… I only learned it at like age 27 or something when the host served them at a party, and also learned that pinyon was a pine and not some unrelated bush thing.:smack: ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuts-that-are-fun-to-crack-and-eat/723632/34 "2015-06-27T21:53:45Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Man, I can’t believe you didn’t know that! > > Err… I only learned it at like age 27 or something when the host served them at a party, and also learned that pinyon was a pine and not some unrelated bush thing.:smack: 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuts-that-are-fun-to-crack-and-eat/723632/35 "2015-06-27T22:13:23Z")
An interesting thing about Brazil nuts is that there are two layers of shell. We’re used to seeing only the inner shell. The nuts in the inner shells grow in clusters inside the outer shell, sort of like orange segments inside the peel of an orange. [Here](http://www.onlyfoods.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Brazil-nut-Images.jpg) is a pretty good photo of the nuts in the outer shell with the top removed. Another interesting thing is that Brazil nuts are collected from the wild rather than cultivated. There have been attempts at Brazil nuy plantations, but yields are very low. ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuts-that-are-fun-to-crack-and-eat/723632/36 "2015-06-27T23:45:11Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Does ANYONE like brazil nuts? Or **ahem** recall their horrid common name, a few decades back? > > ETA: Parallel ninja’ing, there. I like Brazil nuts too (and shave them as **wolfman** does, but with my _top_ incisors). Re the “common name”: I once ran across a set of Brazils painted to look like slices of watermelon. That seemed somehow appropriate… ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuts-that-are-fun-to-crack-and-eat/723632/37 "2015-06-27T23:48:07Z")
Fuckin’ hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuts-that-are-fun-to-crack-and-eat/723632/38 "2015-06-28T00:26:18Z")
> [@rjk](#): > > I like Brazil nuts too (and shave them as **wolfman** does, but with my _top_ incisors). Top Incisors?! SHUN THE FREAK! SHUN THE FREAK! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuts-that-are-fun-to-crack-and-eat/723632/39 "2015-06-28T02:03:58Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > Top Incisors?! > SHUN THE FREAK! SHUN THE FREAK! I use my molars, as G-d intended. Burn the heretics! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuts-that-are-fun-to-crack-and-eat/723632/40 "2015-06-28T03:08:56Z")
From Merriam-Webster: a (1): **a hard-shelled dry fruit or seed with a separable rind or shell and interior kernel** (2): the kernel of a nut b: a dry indehiscent one-seeded fruit with a woody pericarp This is for the benefit of the people who didn’t bother to look up what the definition of ‘nut’, and that implied that it referes specifically to ‘true nuts,’ which definition b describes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuts-that-are-fun-to-crack-and-eat/723632.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuts-that-are-fun-to-crack-and-eat/723632.md?page=3)