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Hazelnut trees are related to Birch trees.

The tree is actually a shrub, that grows 10 to 15 feet tall (3 to 4.5 metres.) In cultivation, it is usually pruned to a single stalk, making it look more like a proper tree. It will bear fruit when it reaches 3 to 4 years old and remain productive for up to 50 years after that. Each year a tree can bear 20 to 25 pounds of dried nuts (9 to 11 kg.)

The tree blooms with flowers shaped like sheep's tails called "catkins." The flowers need to be pollinated with pollen from another variety of Hazelnut tree; consequently, growers must plan to plant compatible varieties. The nuts grow surrounded by a leafy husk, which dries and opens to release the nut. The shape of the nuts varies from round to oval.

There are about 20 species of Hazelnuts. For the most part, only the variety called "Corylus americana" grows well in Eastern North America. This variety is also called "Lombard Nut, Pontic Nut and Spanish Nut." On the west coast, the "Corylus cornuta" variety is dominant, with the Barcelona variety also being grown in Oregon and Washington States. Barcelona is a "cultivar", a cross done by man, between "Corylus Avellana" and "Corylus maxima" varieties. It was bred by a French horticulturist named Felix Gillet in Oregon in 1885, who called it the "Barcelona."

The Brits grow "Corylus avellana grandis", which in Britain are called "cobnuts" (aka Cobb Nuts, Cob Nuts.) These are larger than the American variety of Hazelnuts, but they are all still Hazelnuts.


Some English Varieties

Name		Description		Varieties that can pollinate it
Butler		Tree bears many nuts that come easily out of their husks, making production costs cheaper.		Ennis, Merveille de Bollwiller
Cosford		Produces nuts with thin shells, but not as many nuts as do other varieties. The nuts have a flavour that is well-liked.		Gunslebert, Kentish Cob, Merveille de Bollwiller
Ennis		Large round nuts, good flavour.		Butler, Merveille de Bollwiller
Gunslebert		Medium-sized nuts, but trees bear a lot of them.		Cosford, Kentish Cob
Kentish Cob (aka Longue d’Espagne)		Good-flavoured nuts. Tree is hardy and a reliable producer.		Cosford, Gunslebert, Merveille de Bollwiller
Merveille de Bollwiller (aka Hall's Giant)		Large nuts. Tree is hardy and a reliable producer.		Cosford, Butler, Ennis, Kentish Cob

Elsewhere in the world, prevalent Hazelnut species are "Corylus avellana pontica" and "Corylus maxima." Hazelnuts from these two varieties tend to have a somewhat longer shell than nuts from other Hazelnut varieties.

Over 3/4 of the world's production Hazelnut production comes from Turkey. America produces only 2% of the world's output. In Britain, Kent is a large centre of Hazelnut (aka Cobnut) production.

Cooking Tips
Inside the shell, the actual nut is covered by a brown skin that needs to be removed as it is bitter. The brown skin will flake when roasted at 350 F (175 C) for 10 to 15 minutes, then it can be rubbed off with a tea towel.

Equivalents
1 pound (450g) Hazelnuts, in shell = 1 1/2 cups of Hazelnut pieces
1 pound (450g) Hazelnuts, shelled = 3 1/2 cups of Hazelnut pieces
3 oz (85g) Hazelnuts, shelled, toasted, skinned and ground = 3/4 cup

Storage
Store unshelled nuts in a cool place for 6 months; shelled for 1 month in a cool place or in freezer for 6 months.

History

Hazelnuts are native to Europe. They were first introduced into the New World by being planted on the Eastern Coast of North America in 1629. They started to do well, but then were wiped out by disease. They were reintroduced on the West Coast of North America in 1858 in Oregon. A second variety was introduced via Oregon in the late 1870s.

Literature & Lore
"Why does the world report that Kate doth limp? O slanderous world! Kate like the hazel-twig is straight and slender and as brown in hue as hazel nuts and sweeter than the kernels. O, let me see thee walk: thou dost not halt." -- Petruchio. The Taming of the Shrew, Act II, Scene 1. Shakespeare.

"Filberts are one of the hazelnuts deriving from Europe, there named for St. Philibert. Prewar, this nut came by tons out of Italy, Sicily, Turkey, and Spain. Now we depend on the Washington and Oregon groves. Handsome crops there but the acreage is still small, the industry new. However, production in the North-west is on the increase, with hundreds of acres of trees soon to come into bearing." -- Paddleford, Clementine (1898 - 1967). Food Flashes Column. Gourmet Magazine. December 1948.

Language Notes
Many Americans think that the American variety of Hazelnuts is different from European varieties, and that the American variety is Hazelnuts, and that the other varieties, which they call Filberts, are a different nut altogether. In fact, they are all Hazelnuts, and Filberts is just another name for Hazelnut.

The name "Hazel" may come from the word for helmet or hood in Anglo-Saxon, which was "haesel". "Filbert" may have come an Old English word meaning "full beard", referring to the husk which surrounds the nut at first, or it may come from St Philibert's Day, the start of the Hazelnut harvest in Kent, England, which was on 22 August.

Also called:

Other entries for:

Nuts
Acorns, Almonds, Amalou, Brazil Nuts, Cashew Nuts, Chestnuts, Coconuts, Hazelnuts, Macadamia Nuts, Peanuts, Pecans, Pine Nuts, Pistachios, Tigernuts, Walnuts

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