Mixed Roasted Nuts with Peanuts, Salted

This is a salted mix of roasted almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, pistachios and peanuts: mekassarat meshakkela, as Egyptian nut roasteries sell it. We buy them already roasted and pack them ourselves into resealable pouches of 250 g, 500 g and 1 kg. The nuts come to us already mixed and we cannot give the share of each kind, so the ingredient list is not in order of weight, and one handful can hold more of one nut than another.

Each nut brings its own bite: the almond a firm, dry crunch, the cashew a softer, mild one, the hazelnut a round, toasted taste, the pistachio a green kernel with a rich flavour, and the peanut a plain, crisp snap. The salt ties them together.

In Egypt a bowl of mixed nuts is what comes out when guests arrive: with tea after dinner, through the evenings of Ramadan, and on the Eid tray beside the biscuits and sweets. In the weeks before Ramadan, nuts like these are part of yamish, the nuts and dried fruit that families buy in for the month.

Pour them into a bowl for guests, or eat them by the handful with tea or coffee. They suit a film night or a long drive, and a few scattered over a green salad or a plate of rice add crunch. Because the mix is salted, it is better for snacking and savoury dishes than for sweets and baking. If they have lost a little crunch, warm them for a few minutes in a dry pan and let them cool. Each of the four tree nuts in this mix is also sold on its own in this category, for a tray or a recipe that needs only one kind.

Almonds, cashews, hazelnuts and pistachios are tree nuts, one of the major food allergens, and for some people even a small amount can cause a serious reaction. Peanuts grow in the ground and are not a tree nut, but they are a major food allergen of their own, so they are declared separately. This pouch contains TREE NUTS (ALMONDS, CASHEWS, HAZELNUTS, PISTACHIOS) and PEANUTS. Keep it away from anyone with a nut or peanut allergy, and wipe bowls and hands after serving. We cannot confirm that they were roasted or packed away from other nuts or sesame, so if you have another food allergy as well, ask us before you order. Whole nuts are a choking risk for small children: chop or grind them for young eaters.

Two things this page does not claim. We have not been able to confirm where these nuts were grown, so no country is named here. Nuts are also widely sold with long lists of claimed effects, and this listing repeats none of them. They are sold as food, and nothing here is a health claim or medical advice.

Roasted nuts keep their crunch and their fresh, toasted taste for a limited time, because the oil in a roasted nut slowly goes stale, faster in heat and light. Keep the pouch pressed shut, cool and dark, and in a hot kitchen keep it in the fridge. Count on about three months of best taste from delivery while the pouch stays sealed, and about one month once it is open. If they ever smell sharp, like paint or old oil, instead of toasted, they have gone rancid and are best thrown away.