macadamia nut/ makadamia

The genuine conclusion after all the discussions we’ve had around it is that, even if you didn’t grow up with this fruit in your backyard, you did encounter it in schools and in neighbors’ farms during visits. For the cousins who grew up in the village, I am those ‘cousins’, not even the neighbors threats of releasing his dogs on us could keep us away from indulging.

Even its layers of stubbornness expressed through its outer green peel and the second hard to crack, brown layer wasn’t an enough deterrent. For urban folk, it’s always been available in most retail shops and supermarkets as sweetened, salted, unsalted, raw, roasted, shelled and unshelled.

Macadamia nut or makadamia as it is known in Swahili; is a fruit that comes from the macadamia tree. The tree is a genus of four species with only three producing great for-commercial purpose fruits.

It takes seven years for the macadamia tree to mature and yield its first produce and reaches full production by the tenth year.

Macadamia nuts are native to Australia and are widely grown in the tropics; Brazil, Costa Rica, Hawaii (former largest producer), New Zealand, South Africa (largest world producer), USA, Kenya, Malawi and Guatemala.

The good macadamia fruit is compact, smooth and don’t have any cracks on it. Macadamia nut has a coconut- like creamy taste and can stay in your pantry for months without getting spoilt. 

A special device, macadamia nut cracker, is the designated equipment used to crack open the nut: And when it’s unavailable in the house you can improvise.

Macadamia nut is available as a whole fruit, an oil (macadamia oil - used as a hair product), and can be ground to powder before being used in a recipe.

In culinary macadamia nuts are used in salads, as a post workout snack as it is a high source of energy, in baked items and many desserts. They can be roasted, baked and ground before adding as an ingredient. Macadamia nuts can also be chopped up and added to food at table.

Macadamia nuts are a whole food rich in antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, healthy fats and fiber.

Macadamia health benefits include:

• Aids in digestion
• Supports gut health
• Strengthens your nervous system
• Boosts metabolism
• They help lower cholesterol and blood pressure
• The antioxidants rejuvenate your skin
• Aid in weight loss
• Boosting of bone and teeth health