Roasted Hazelnuts - Whole, Mostly Skinned, Unsalted

These are whole hazelnuts, roasted and left unsalted: bunduq mohammas, as Egyptian nut roasteries sell them. Roasting loosens the thin brown skin and most of it is rubbed off afterwards, so a few flakes of skin in the pouch are normal. We buy them already roasted and pack them ourselves into resealable pouches of 250 g, 500 g and 1 kg. Roasting turns the raw hazelnut's soft, mild bite into a crisp crunch and a deep, toasted aroma.

The taste is toasted, sweet and buttery, with the warm aroma that most people know from hazelnut chocolate. With most of the skin gone there is little of its bitterness, and because there is no salt, they work as well in sweets and chocolate as they do on their own.

In Egypt hazelnuts belong to the sweet tray and the feast table. They are one of the nuts of yamish, sold with raisins, dried apricots and dates in the weeks before Ramadan, they go with almonds and raisins into om ali, and a bowl of roasted nuts with hazelnuts in it is set out for guests through the evenings of Ramadan and at Eid.

Eat them by the handful with tea or coffee. Chop them and scatter them over konafa, om ali, rice pudding, ice cream or yoghurt. With chocolate they are the classic pair: stir chopped hazelnuts into melted chocolate, spread it thin, let it set and break it into pieces, or press them into the top of a chocolate cake. They are already roasted, so add them to anything that bakes near the end of the baking time: a second long bake can darken them and make them bitter. If they have lost a little crunch, warm them for a few minutes in a dry pan and let them cool. Hazelnuts are also one of the nuts in our Egyptian Dukkah, pounded with almonds, toasted sesame, coriander and cumin.

Hazelnuts are a tree nut, one of the major food allergens, and for some people even a small amount can cause a serious reaction. This pouch contains TREE NUTS (HAZELNUTS). Keep it away from anyone with a nut allergy, and wipe boards and bowls after chopping. We cannot confirm that they were roasted or packed away from peanuts, 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 hazelnuts were grown, so no country is named here. Hazelnuts 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 hazelnuts 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.