by Amy Holguin

When we talk about eating hazelnuts, most of us will first think of Nutella. The company produces 11 million jars of Nutella a year with up to 97 nuts in each. It all began in 1946 when confectioner Petro Ferrero, faced with wartime rationing, decided that mixing hazelnuts into chocolate might make it go further. But eating hazelnuts isn’t a new thing. 

Hazelnuts were one of the first foods picked in Britain. During the Mesolithic, hazelnuts are really common on archaeological sites in the UK and across northern Europe. To the extent that one academic paper, referred comically suggested that perhaps the Mesolithic - the Middle Stone Age - should be renamed the ‘nut age’. At Mesolithic sites, they have been found in massive roasting pits. 

It’s not surprising that as a species we have been eating hazelnuts for a very long time because they are not only delicious but very good for us. A small handful of hazelnuts will give you 1.3 grams of protein, 1.1 grams of fibre and a substantial boost of the anti-oxidant Vitamin E.

by Patricia Bond

"The Kernel of the Nut is more pleasant than Wholesome, as is too often experienc'd, especially by the younger Sort; a sad Instance of which had like to have been verified, in a Servant Boy about fourteen Years old, that then waited on the Rev. Mr. Colemore, now Rector of our Parish, who had eaten such a Quantity, that two Physicians were consulted, who ordered Quicksilver to be given him"

This is an extract from a 1700 garden manual. I really love the story at the end about the boy who ate too many hazelnuts. It is also interesting how the useful parts of the tree made it particularly vulnerable to theft. 

Quicksilver is a traditional name for the chemical element mercury!!

by Amy Holguin and Patricia Bond

A SURPRISE DISCOVERY: PACLITAXEL IN HAZELNUT TREES

Angela Hoffman, a chemist at the University of Portland, Oregon, had previously looked for ways to boost paclitaxel production in yew trees. To her surprise, she found a new source of the compound while working on a completely different project. She and her colleagues were studying hazelnut trees to see why some were more susceptible than others to Eastern filbert blight, which is devastating hazelnut groves in Oregon's Willamette Valley. The researchers prepared extracts from several types of hazelnut trees, and after purifying and analyzing the samples, Hoffman noticed the familiar chemical signature of paclitaxel.

There's an interesting link between Hazels and Salmon 

A forked hazel branch is still regarded as the best choice for water divining. In Irish mythology the Salmon of Knowledge received all its understanding from eating nine hazelnuts that had fallen from an overhanging tree. When a young servant boy tasted the salmon while it was cooking he was imbued with wisdom and as a consequence became the legendary warrior and leader Phil McCool.