Picked a small batch of these hidden gems a wee bit earlier than normal after what happened this year to our strawberry patch, but that’s another story. We’ll let them dry as they are until the husks are brown and before we extract the nut. Hopefully they will mostly be free of insect pests, such as weevil larvae – not that some of us have probably eaten a few of those wiggly things on purpose or not. These beaked hazelnuts grow wild here in Maine and the nuts are simply delicious. Years ago it wouldn’t have been uncommon for many a youngster to smack a burlap bag of these on the hard ground to enable getting to the nut easier. You don’t really want to handle the husk with bare hands mind you – the hairs on the husk can be quite irritating, especially to the fingertips. Oh, and I’m also talking about the real burlap, not that plastic fake burlap.
Anyway, in the grand scheme of time, these will soon be eaten; and so “Damn the Torpedoes, full steam ahead”: pare the husks, crack the shells open, sit back, and enjoy one of nature’s most tasty morsels. The hazelnut. Aah!