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At culture, we love foods that tell stories. That's what ... That's because, like peaches and plums, the almond is a dru
NUTS A BOUT

ALMOND

Learn how to identify walnuts in the wild, p. 78

PISTACHIO

PEANUT

Try our favorite sprouted-nut butter, p. 79

WRITTEN BY

MOLLY MCDONOUGH

PHOTOGR APHED BY

Put pecans in a bourbon cocktail, p. 81

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ANDREW PURCELL

ST YLED BY

CARRIE PURCELL

ILLUSTR ATED BY

TOM BINGHAM

Why isn’t this goober a nut? p. 74

WALNUT

PECAN

BRAZIL NUT

CASHEW HAZELNUT

Why are cashews the best cheese substitute? p. 77

Your everything guide to these incredible edible kernels, from almonds to walnuts

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t culture, we love foods that tell stories. That’s what keeps us hooked on curds—but cheese isn’t the only fare with tales to tell. Nuts may be diminutive in stature, but trust us: These little morsels are big on drama. We’ve uncovered accounts of deception (most nuts are not, in fact, nuts), intrigue (nutty cheese aromas baffle scientists), and lifelong devotion (a 92-year-old

nutcracker collector shares secrets). There are stories of sickness (a blight felled American chestnut trees), strife (World War II had a role in Nutella’s invention), and redemption (wild nuts are back in vogue). And the best part of these yarns? Edible protagonists. So whether it’s DIY nut butter, our favorite spiced snacks, cooking tips for foraged acorns, or a pecan-based cocktail, we’ve got you covered for all your noshing needs.

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your KNOW NUTS Botany is full of surprises when it comes to our favorite shelled snacks

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rom forests to fields, old-world groves to new-world plantations, caveman dwellings to your local dive bar: Nuts are found wherever hungry humans have roamed. Shielded by glowing leafy greens and sweet, ripe fruits that tempt us, nuts lurk in the background, encased in rigid, unyielding shells. But the moment our ancestors figured out how to smash two rocks together, the treasures within became diet fixtures. It makes sense: Since the nuts we eat are meant to give life to new bushes or trees, they’re packed with nutrients, compounds that protect against disease, and energy—often in the form of oil and heart-healthy fats. Nuts exude fragrant compounds when fresh; cooking them encourages reactions between amino acids and sugars, yielding a multitude of evolving aromas. Today we toss back the easy-to-munch morsels without giving much thought to where they come from—but botany reveals some mind-bending facts. Did you know that a nut is actually a fruit? It’s a specific type of fruit with a single seed that rests, unattached, inside a hard, closed shell. Think of the hazelnut: On the tree’s slim branches hang dry, reddish-brown, heart-shaped pods. When cracked, the small, beige, aromatic kernels emerge. This is the seed, the edible part of the nut fruit. The plot thickens. Did you know that almonds, pecans, walnuts, and a whole range of other “nuts” are not actually nuts at all? Consider the almond: On the tree it’s a soft, green, oval fruit belying little hint of what’s inside. Peel back the fleshy exterior and you’ll find a pit resembling a peach or plum core. That’s because, like peaches and plums, the almond is a drupe: a fleshy fruit with a stone inside. Within that stone is the seed, what we know as the edible almond.

2.4 million B.C.:

A human ancestor whom archaeologists nicknamed “Nutcracker Man” lives in East Africa, surviving mainly on a diet of tiger nuts.

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Nut or Not? DR

UP

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GU

ME

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✓❍❍ COCONUT ❍ ✓ CHESTNUT ❍ ❍ ❍ ✓❍❍ CASHEW ❍

✓❍ PE ANUT ❍ ❍ ✓❍❍ ALMOND ❍ ✓ HA ZELNUT ❍ ❍ ❍ ✓ ACORN ❍ ❍ ❍ ✓❍❍ PISTACHIO ❍ ✓❍❍ WALNUT ❍

5600 B.C.: The oldest peanut

ever discovered grows in Peru, where Incans once used the nuts as sacrificial offerings.

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Complicating things further, the peanut is in an entirely different category. Unlike the pods of drupes and nuts that hang from trees, peanut pods grow underground beneath bushes. Classified as a legume, the peanut is a closer relative to beans and peas than to any of the other nuts we eat. While botany offers a narrow definition of the nut, the seeds or seed-containing fruits found in nuts, drupes, or legumes do have much in common: They’re nutrient-dense with an oily composition, an aromatic aura, and a delicious multitude of uses. That’s why our guide focuses on “culinary” nuts, a widely accepted, broad category that includes a range of drupes and legumes—because a (nut) party is more fun when everyone’s invited.

540

Number of peanuts needed to make the average jar of peanut butter

1444 B.C.: In the Bible’s Book of

Numbers, Moses describes Aaron’s staff blossoming and bearing almonds—a symbol of divine approval.

RCONA ALMO ND S

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Mitica Spicy Marcona Almonds, Valencia, Spain forevercheese.com

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NutHouse! Granola Company Indian Ajwain Cashews, Berkeley, Calif. nuthousegranola.com

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s Hops and Nuts Shuga Hop Nuts, Greensboro, N.C. hopsandnuts.com

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Spirited parties start with our favorite seasoned nuts

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SPICE UP your LIFE

Q’s Nuts Mexican Chocolate Pecans, Somerville, Mass. qsnuts.com

SPICE NU T S Heat oven to 300°F. Lightly grease a cookie sheet. For each pound of nuts, combine ½ cup granulated sugar, ¼ cup brown sugar, 1 tablespoon salt, and 4 tablespoons of desired spice mix in a bowl (we like equal parts cayenne, cumin, and cinnamon).

1

In a separate bowl, beat 1 egg white with 1 tablespoon water until frothy. Add nuts and stir to coat.

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Sprinkle nuts with sugar and spice mixture; toss until well coated. Spread nuts onto cookie sheet in a single layer. Bake 30 to 45 minutes or until golden brown.

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AROMAS

A MATTER OF TASTE

pumpkins zucchinis wood tobacco grass or hay legume skins sawdust cured ham soybeans red fruits

Why do we sense nutty flavors in cheese?

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romas we detect while sniffing or chewing result from an infinitely varying mix of chemical compounds. Specifically these are “volatile” compounds: substances that can vaporize and float through the air to reach olfactory receptors in our nasal cavities. In cheese, volatile aroma compounds result from enzymes that break down milk’s basic components— fat, protein, and carbohydrates. While an aged wheel might contain hundreds of these compounds, none are unique to cheese; they’re found elsewhere in nature, too. That’s why there’s not a true “cheese” smell—and why curds so often yield scents that remind us of other foods, such as fruit, meat, or nuts. When we look for the source of cheese’s “nutty” flavors, we’re really seeking specific chemicals, or combinations of chemicals, that remind us of nuts. That’s exactly what researchers at North Carolina State University did in a groundbreaking 2004 experiment. First pro tasters distinguished between aged cheddars with and without nutty aromas. Then the team isolated volatile aroma compounds from those cheeses. Nutty and non-nutty cheeses displayed an important difference: Nutty varieties had higher concentrations of compounds known as Strecker aldehydes. Curious, the scientists added extra Strecker aldehydes to cheddars—and tasters perceived those cheeses as even nuttier.

Connecting the sensory perception of nutty flavors to the presence of precise chemical compounds was a major step forward in flavor science—but Strecker aldehydes are likely just one nutty culprit among many. “Defining the cause of nutty flavor in cheese has been difficult,” says John Lucey, director of the Center for Dairy Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “There are more questions than answers. For other cheeses there are likely other causes—organic acids and a very wide range of chemical compounds.” Just as there’s no single “cheese” aroma, there’s no one “nut” aroma, either. That’s why the nut industry has also examined ways to characterize flavor. In 2006 the Almond Board of California worked with professional tasters to release a lexicon that included a list of 36 aromas commonly detected in almonds. Since nuts (like cheeses) are packed with flavor compounds, and dozens of almond strains grow in California alone, the reference helps researchers, producers, and retailers communicate when comparing varieties and cooking methods. Similar guides developed for peanuts and cashews display the incredible variety of aromas that are found in nuts, from cod liver oil to fried chicken to—yes—cheese, proving just how dizzying flavor science can be.

AROMAS

peanuts lightly toasted, unsalted nuts nutty-buttery hazelnuts unsalted Wheat Thins nutty-grainlike roasted peanut oil nutty-woody almonds

Diagram at right based on the Almond Board of California's almond lexicon and various cheese studies.

1560s: The Portuguese introduce cashews to

India, where the nuts will eventually be used in Ayurvedic medicine as a stimulant, hair tonic, and aphrodisiac.

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1598: A recipe for a vegan cheese made from almond

milk—for consumption during dairy-free Lent—is published in Italian cookbook Epulario or “The Italian Banquet.”

NUT S MAY HELP YOU… LIVE LONGER. A 2013 Harvard University study following 120,000 people over three decades found that people who ate nuts more often had a lower risk of premature death.

DODGE HEART DISEASE. A review of four clinical studies by Loma Linda University revealed that consuming nuts four times a week could decrease the risk of coronary heart disease by 37 percent.

FEEL HAPPIER. Spanish researchers discovered that people who ate an ounce of walnuts, almonds, or hazelnuts daily displayed boosted levels of serotonin, a moodregulating chemical.

STAY LEAN. Scientists who followed more than 50,000 women over eight years found that those who ate peanuts and tree nuts at least twice a week had a lower risk of weight gain and obesity.

GET SMART. A 2015 UCLA study determined that consuming 13 grams of walnuts per day (less than a handful) significantly increased adults’ performance on a series of cognitive tests. In other studies, walnuts have also been shown to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia.

WIN THE RACE. Tufts University researchers observed that almond consumption improved distance and endurance in trained male cyclists.

1667: The Dutch relinquish the island of Manhattan to the British in exchange for Run, a tiny Indonesian nutmegproducing island, securing a monopoly on the world’s nutmeg.

Nutty Q&A:

HOW-TO:

MIYOKO SCHINNER

M A K E NU T MILK

The founder of Miyoko’s Kitchen—a company that makes vegan cheeses from organic cashew milk in Fairfax, Calif.—dishes on this new niche.

PHOTOS: AmyLv/Shutterstock.com (almonds); Carlos Romero/Shutterstock.com (cheese); Jodie Johnson/Shutterstock.com (milk)

Why use cashews in vegan cheese? We do apply somewhat traditional cheesemaking techniques to our products. We use lactic acid fermentation to drop pH [levels] and develop flavor profile, and we age some of the cheeses. Nuts respond really well because they are high in fat and have some protein. Cashews are the cow’s milk equivalent in the nut world—a very neutral flavor profile. You can do a lot of stuff on top of that. You can create different textures depending on what cultures you use, whether you age it or not, whether you heat it or not.

hard on “plant-based imitators,” as they call them, causing plant-based cheeses and alternative companies to stop calling products “milk” or “cheese.” We played around with it and decided on “cultured nut product.”

How do you define cheese? The world is changing, and I believe that cheese is really about fermentation. It’s about transforming some sort of milk-like substance into a solid and dropping the pH. At one time it was only done with milk, but now we can do it with plant-based proteins. So why not?

Why is your product labeled “cultured nut product” and not “vegan cheese”? The FDA defines cheese as the lacteal secretions of one or more cows . . . and the dairy industry has come down

plus:

Review our tasting notes on Miyoko’s Kitchen cheeses at culturecheesemag.com/miyokos.

Place raw, unseasoned nuts (almonds, macadamias, cashews, peanuts, pecans, hazelnuts, or a mix) in a bowl and fill with water. Let soak at least 12 hours or overnight at room temperature. Drain.

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Add 1 part soaked nuts and 4 parts hot (not boiling) water to a blender. (Flavorings are optional: Add a pinch of salt and/or a teaspoon of a sweetener per cup of nuts to start—honey, maple, or agave—adding more after blending to taste.) Blend on high at least 2 minutes or until smooth.

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Strain milk through a cheesecloth or nut milk bag (available online). Discard pulp. Refrigerate milk and consume within 5 days.

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The phrase can be traced back to the early 1600s, when “nut” was synonymous with any source of pleasure. By the late 18th century, to be “nutts upon” was another way of saying “very fond of.” Meanwhile, the notion of “crazy for”—with a similar meaning—was also gaining traction. In the late 1800s, another trend emerged: “nut” became interchangeable with “head.” “Used as an exclamation at a fight,” reads the 1874 British Slang Dictionary by John Camden Hotten, “it means to strike on the head.” In Hotten’s 1860 A Dictionary of Modern Slang, Cant, and Vulgar Words, “off one’s nut” had come to indicate being “out of one’s head”—or, as we say today, crazy.

Why do we “go nuts”?

1904: Bronx zookeeper Herman Merkel discovers the

blight that will go on to kill nearly all American chestnut trees within a century.

1930s: Karo Syrup—the first corn syrup packaged

for home consumption—starts replacing honey, molasses, and maple syrup in American recipes for pecan pie.

1940s: Wartime chocolate shortages

push Italian chocolatier Pietro Ferrero to bulk-up his confections with hazelnuts, resulting in the invention of Nutella.

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NOT JUST for SQUIRRELS

FORAGING

J E R R Y H E N K I N , former director and current librarian of the Northern Nut Growers Association, explains why it’s easy to get hooked on nut foraging PHOTOGR APHED BY

ADAM MACCHIA

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onsidering Jerry Henkin’s deep knowledge of nut-bearing trees, we pictured him as a backwoods forest dweller. Not so: His house in Yonkers, N.Y., sits about 300 feet from the border of New York City. Each fall at the peak of nut harvest, Henkin scours some well-trafficked places, including Central Park, local schoolyards, and alongside highways. If nuts are so close—falling on the sidewalk, on our cars, even on our heads— why don’t we notice? “A lot of people just don’t know that nuts come from trees,” Henkin says. Even those savvy to the nuts’ origins might not be able to recognize them in unfamiliar outer shells. Then there’s the labor-intensive processing. Take black walnuts. First, they must be cleaned of their staining outer layer. Then they cure; initially they’re green and wet, requiring a period of dehydration. And, unlike Persian walnuts (available in supermarkets) that slip easily from their husks, wild nuts are difficult to open, requiring a hammer, two rocks, or a heavyduty nutcracker and wire cutters to extract the kernel. Get started with one of Henkin does it all anyway. “I love the communion with nature,” he says. Returning seven Foraging guides by Timber Press, each to the same nut-bearing trees year after year keeps him tuned into natural cycles tailored to a different and fluctuations in annual harvest. Plus, since many of these trees were planted US region. Expect vivid deliberately with the intention of one day providing food, he’s doing his part to not photos, detailed plant descriptions, and waste the resources they’re supplying. And wild trees, hidden deeper in the forest, inspiring recipes encourage him to discover out-of-the-way places. (such as roasted “Going through a wooded area where there aren’t any human sounds, where there are hickory nut chai or foraged piñon pesto). beautiful colors, odors, and flowing waters of a river: It’s a beautiful feeling,” he says.

1963: The first American iteration of

traditional Chinese “cashew chicken” is served at the Grove Supper Club in Springfield, Mo.

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1976: The “Jimmy Carter Peanut” statue is erected in front of a gas station in Plains, Ga., the peanut-farming former president’s hometown.

1995: South Korea’s best-selling

indie rock band Crying Nut plays its first show in Seoul.

Putting Nature’s Bounty to Work

FIELD GUIDE Where to find your favorite nuts— and how to use them BLACK WALNUT

WHERE: In almost every US state east of Utah.

LOOK FOR: A large deciduous tree with black, thickly furrowed bark and pointed, elongated leaves; the nut is enclosed in a sticky, green husk. USE: Consume raw or as milk, or add to baked goods. WHERE: More than 60 species of acornproducing oak grow in North America (some are more palatable than others). ACORN

LOOK FOR: White oak trees with light gray bark, broad-reaching branches, and acorns that fall to the ground in October. USE: Leach first to remove bitterness, then roast or grind into meal as a flour substitute. HICKORY NUT

USE: Consume raw or roast, candy, or add to baked goods. BUTTERNUT

WHERE: Eastern US

LOOK FOR: A deciduous tree with a short trunk and wide canopy; oblong, tapered nuts are covered in sticky hairs. USE: Consume raw or as milk, or add to baked goods.

2006: A small patch of surviving

American chestnut trees is discovered in Georgia’s F.D. Roosevelt State Park.

M A K E NU T BU T T ER

C L A R K B A R L O W E owns Heirloom

Restaurant in Charlotte, N.C., famous for its wild-nut foraging program. Here’s how the chef uses his finds: Beet-and-Butter Lettuce Salad with Goat Lady Dairy Chèvre, Black Walnuts, and Persimmon Vinaigrette.

Add 2 cups nuts (any kind) to bowl of a food processor or blender.

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Process 1 minute until crumbs begin to form. Use a spatula to scrape down sides of bowl or blender as necessary.

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“We grate black walnuts atop salads. With so much natural fat, they have the mouthfeel of grated parmesan.”

Acorn-Crusted Golden Tilefish with Onion Pie, Maitake Mushrooms, and Gremolata. “We forage and shell acorns. We leach the tannins out—that’s a weeklong process. Then we dehydrate and powder them. We dredge the fish in acorn flour then sear it.”

Maple-Apple Cake with Apple Butter, Hickory Nuts, Chantilly Cream, Brown Sugar Caramel, and Gingersnap. “Hickory nuts are incredibly difficult to process. We crack them, then pick through with tweezers to get all the fine shells out. They taste like maple syrup."

Add flavorful extras—a few tablespoons honey or chocolate chips; pinches of sea salt or spice. Repeat step 2 until mixture reaches desired consistency. Refrigerate in an airtight container up to one week.

3

EXPERT TIP: Toast nuts beforehand to bring out deeper aromas.

Better Butters

WHERE: Eastern US

LOOK FOR: Several species including the pecan tree (with sickle-shaped, four- to seven-inch-long leaves, and nuts with yellow-green husks that turn brown when ripe) and the shagbark hickory tree (with peeling bark and black husks that split open to reveal nuts).

HOW-TO:

These oh-so-spoonable spreads reigned supreme in our taste tests Big Spoon Roasters Peanut Cocoa

Durham, N.C. All peanut butter cups on the nose, this mixture is savory with just a hint of wildflower honey. Cocoa nibs add crunch. bigspoonroasters.com

Fastachi Pecan Butter

Watertown, Mass. Made with just two ingredients—pecans and sea salt—this simple, crunchy butter embodies the virtues of nut roasting. fastachi.com

2008: Astronaut Richard M.

Linnehan eats a Fluffernutter sandwich aboard the International Space Station.

Eliot’s Adult Nut Butters Harissa Cashew Butter

Solstice Canyon Cardamom & Clove Almond Butter

Portland, Ore. Dosed with harissa, this salty butter has deep umami notes and a peppery kick. Next stop: Stir-fry. eliotsadultnutbutters.com

Los Angeles A fatty, raw-almond base benefits from a gingerbready spice blend—use it to glaze holiday cookies or cake. solsticecanyon.com

Buff Bake Red Velvet Peanut Butter

Sky Island Organics Pistachios Alive!

Newport Beach, Calif. While this PB brims with healthy ingredients such as whey protein and flax, coconut sugar and chocolate up the sweetness. Try it on toast. buffbake.com

Idyllwild, Calif. This company soaks and sprouts pistachios first to boost the nuturitional value of its lovely green spread with nut-forward flavor. skyislandorganics.com

2016: Sam Kass, personal chef to then-president Barack Obama, reveals to The New York Times that Obama eats exactly seven almonds every night. (Obama later tells the newspaper the statement was meant as a joke.)

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2

300

1

Pounds of pressure per square inch required to crack a macadamia nut

4

3

GET CRACKING NORE E N GUI Z A R, cheese buyer and general manager at Fisher’s Cheese & Wine in Larkspur, Calif.— formerly of the Cheese School of San Francisco —suggests a nut-centric cheese plate for your nibbling pleasure.

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1 2 3 4 Marcel Petite Comté Reserve

Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese Mascarpone

+ ROASTED, SALTED BRAZIL NUTS

+ BONNIE’S JAMS NUTS & HONEY

“I’d always pilfer Brazil nuts from the nut bowl at our family parties—I gravitated to their unique texture. Tyrosine crystals in this Marcel Petite Comté mimic the crunchy, almost granular nuts, while the nuts highlight the Alpine classic’s brown-butter flavor.”

“The silky richness of my favorite mascarpone is accentuated by sweet, delicate, honey-soaked nuts. Adding fresh fruit, such as apples, contributes a pop of acidity that brightens the decadent combo. It’s like a deconstructed parfait—perfect for brunch.”

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L’Amuse Brabander

+ FISHER’S CHEESE & WINE HERBES DE PROVENCE ALMONDS

“The acidic tang of goat’s milk highlights lavender in the almonds’ herb mix; the creamy texture plays off the sugary crunch of the almonds. A trip to Provence sounds like a great idea right now.”

Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company Bay Blue

+ CHOCOLATE-HAZELNUT MILK “Add a tablespoon of chocolate syrup to a glass of fancy-hippie hazelnut milk. Take a big swig with a bite of Bay Blue and discover a combination that makes me feel like a kid again. It’s chocolate milk with a grown-up twist: a blue cheese chaser.”

Can you explain the origin of the titular nutcracker from Tchaikovsky’s ballet?

Nutty Q&A: A R L E N E W A G N E R The 92-year-old nutcracker collector and co-founder of the Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum in Washington’s Cascade Mountains talks about the useful, often kitschy, tool.

have a wooden nutcracker made in Switzerland with a man and woman who kiss when the nut is cracked.

We call them “wooden toy soldiers.” It was at a street market in Dresden, Germany, that E.T.A. Hoffmann saw a nutcracker in the shape of a little man, inspiring him to write the story “Nussknacker und Mausekönig,” the basis for the ballet.

Which nutcracker would you choose to be stranded with on a desert island? A mechanical one made of metal so that it would last a long time, and I’d make sure it had multiple uses. Like one we have in the museum from the 17th century—it’s a nutcracker, corkscrew, cleaver, pipe tamper, and pick.

What’s the strangest nutcracker in your collection? One is a metal tube in which a metal ball is dropped onto the nut. Another is a crocodile chasing a little boy up a tree trunk. We also

CHEERS to NUTS!

Come Out

Top mixologists craft tipples with pecans, cashews, and almonds

of

YOUR SHELL

… and get grooving with this nutty playlist.

1 “Coconut” Harry Nilsson 2 “Put a Lid On It” Squirrel Nut Zippers

The Rio

Tia Mia

The Sassiest Pecan

FROM Justin

FROM Ivy

Mix, owner and bartender at Leyenda in Brooklyn, N.Y.

FROM Julia

“Creamy cashews are really tasty against the vegetal tequila and the bitter, punchy sunrise.”

“Orgeat (almond syrup) is traditionally used in mai tais—this one has lightbrown toasted notes that go well with the smokiness of the mezcal and the richness of the rum.”

“Pecans bring out the earthy nuttiness of bourbon here.”

PHOTO: Courtesy of Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum (nutcracker)

Elliott, former general manager at The Townsend in Austin, Texas

¼ ounce “sunrise”* 1 ounce Tapatio Tequila Blanco 1 ounce Galliano ½ ounce sweetened cashew milk ¾ ounce lime juice Lime wheel, to garnish *To make “sunrise,” stir together 2 parts Campari and 1 part pomegranate grenadine. Pour “sunrise” in the bottom of a rocks glass, then fill gently with ice cubes. Add remaining liquids to a shaker with additional ice. Shake and strain over ice into the glass, layering on top of sunrise. Garnish with lime wheel.

1 ounce Del Maguey Mezcal Vida 1 ounce Appleton Estate Signature Rum ½ ounce Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao ½ ounce Orgeat Works T’Orgeat Toasted Almond Syrup ¾ ounces lime juice Sprig mint, to garnish Lime wheel, to garnish Shake first 5 ingredients together and pour into a rocks glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with mint sprig and lime wheel.

Ritz Toffoli, founder of womenwhowhiskey.com

Maple syrup Sugared pecans, to garnish* ¼ ounce Mike’s Hot Honey 3 dashes Dutch’s Colonial Bitters 2 ounces pecan-infused Bulleit Bourbon** *Mix 2 tablespoons crushed toasted pecans and 1 tablespoon sugar. **Combine ½ cup toasted pecans and 1½ cups bourbon and infuse 3 to 4 days at room temperature. Pour thin layer of syrup onto a plate; spread pecans on another plate. Dip the a rocks glass into the syrup then into pecans. Add honey and bitters to glass; swirl. Add a single large ice cube. Pour bourbon over ice cube and stir gently 15 seconds. Serve.

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3 “Linus and Lucy” Vince Guaraldi Trio (a.k.a. the “Peanuts” theme) 4 “A Little Nut Tree” The Melodians

5 “Nutshell” Alice in Chains 6 “The Nutcracker (suite)” Tchaikovsky

7 “A Hard Nut to Crack” Aaron Neville

8 “Loose Nut” Black Flag

9 “Peanuts” The Police

10 “Little Acorns” The White Stripes

11 “Everybody Loves a Nut” Johnny Cash

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