First My story - Peter Johnson (inventor of the Maccawakka
Right from a little kid in Australia (at least in the generation before Play-stations), we would be climbing trees all over the neighbourhood and one of the trees that is common on the east coast of australia between Sydney and North Queensland is the Amazing Macadamia Nut tree.
"We loved the nuts to throw at each other in war games but not the spiky leaves"
Watch the Spiky Leaves on Macadamia nut trees
Mind you the leaves on the tree are quite spiky and so it was one that we paid careful attention to stay away from the spikes. However when they are in season and the nuts are all over the ground under a big tree, Well it was like heaven. Find a rock and smash nuts until your fingers bleed .....
Of course now days kids are to precious to be allowed to use something as dangerous as a rock (Sarcasm in case you missed it) .... Oh the good old days, well my children can attest to the fact that I did not let them have any electronic goods until they could pay for them themselves and not before 15 years old (Sorry I am just that kind of dad, you know the one who loves his kids to much to buy crap for them).
Anyway that is why for the last ten years of my life I have had at least one fruiting Macadamia nut tree in my yard. When the kids were bored and wanted to watch TV, I would tell them, "When the sun is out and so the son is out" and send them off to use their brains and entertain themselves. One one the thing they learned to enjoy doing was hunting for Macadamia nuts too...
So I have shared a story here with you about this beloved tree and I would love to hear your stories too.
Feel free to post them on my facebook page for all the mixed nuts in the world and let's see what happens when people talk honestly about things they care about.
Macadamia Nuts actually have two protective shells.
The picture on the right is a picture of the Australian Macadamia Nut in the 3 stages, In the outer Husk, in the Shell and after they have been cracked. This outer husk is actually quite hard to remove too but of course that part is normally done before they end up in the shop. The husk dries and splits as the nut ages on the tree and then by the time it falls to the ground it is normally much easier to remove the husk if it has not already fallen off the hard inner shell.
Join our Mixed Nuts Club on Facebook
In the mean time I have put some things together on this site but it has only just started, so please help me by telling me what direction you would like to see it go in the comments on my facebook page and if you have any valuable insights about these nuts or any nuts I would love to hear them.
Macadamia Nuts are great,
I just love em but where did Macadamia nuts come from ?
Where are macadamia nuts native to ?
Macadamia nuts are a native plant of Australia - First found in 1828 by Allan Cunningham in the area of Bauple in Queensland
What is the global production of macadamia nuts as of 2015?
As of 2015 the global production of macadamia nuts was 160,000 tonnes
Has the Macadamia nut had other names?
The Macadamia nut was first called the Bauple Berry after the aboriginal name for the area in which it was discovered. It later became known as the Queensland nut when we started to export it to the other states. After this as Australians exported the Macadamia nuts to Hawaii as early as 1910 and Hawaii was the worlds biggest producer until about 2010 when South Africa became the worlds biggest producer of macadamia nuts.
Why did Australia export our nuts to be grown in Hawaii ?
In 1882 William H. Purvis introduced the macadamia nut tree to be planted on the island as a wind break for the sugar plantations on the islands.
Did Australia ever produce more macadamia nuts than the rest of the world?
Well since 1937 when Winston Jones and J. H. Beaumont of the University of Hawaii's discovered how to graft our macadamia nuts, it opened the way for commercial production of this delicious nut. From about then up until 1997 Hawaii was the worlds largest producer until Australia finally got its act together and started to produce our own commercial qualities. This success did not last long with South Africa taking the lead in 2010 but now I think China or Vietnam would be the would leader if the truth be told.
What does WiKi have to say about our favourite nuts ?
Macadamia is a genus of four species of trees indigenous to Australia, and constituting part of the plant family Proteaceae.[1][2] They are native to north eastern New South Wales and central and south eastern Queensland. Three species of the genus are commercially important for their fruit, the macadamia nut /ˌmækəˈdeɪmiə/ (or simply macadamia). Global production in 2015 was 160,000 tonnes (180,000 short tons).[3] Other names include Queensland nut, bush nut, maroochi nut, bauple nut, and Hawaii nut.[4] In Australian Aboriginal languages, the fruit is known by names such as bauple, gyndl, jindilli,[4] and boombera. It was an important source of bushfood for the Aboriginal peoples who were the original inhabitants of the area.
Fresh macadamia nut with husk or pericarp cut in half
Macadamia nut in its shell and a roasted nut
Macadamia nut with sawn nutshell, and special key used to pry open the nut
The nut was first commercially produced on a wide scale in Hawaii, where Australian seeds were introduced in the 1880s, and for some time they were the world's largest producer.[5][6] South Africa has been the world's largest producer of the macadamia since the 2010s.
1828
Allan Cunningham was the first European to encounter the macadamia plant.[10]
1857
German-Australian botanist Ferdinand von Mueller gave the genus the scientific name Macadamia – named after von Mueller’s friend Dr. John Macadam, a noted scientist and secretary of the Philosophical Institute of Australia.[11]
1858
Walter Hill, superintendent of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens (Australia), observed a boy eating the kernel without ill effect, becoming the first nonindigenous person recorded to eat macadamia nuts.[12]
1860s
King Jacky, aboriginal elder of the Logan River clan, south of Brisbane, Queensland, was the first known macadamia entrepreneur, as his tribe and he regularly collected and traded the macadamias with settlers.[13]
1866
Tom Petrie planted macadamias at Yebri Creek (near Petrie) from nuts obtained from Aboriginals at Buderim.[14]
1882
William H. Purvis introduced macadamia nuts to Hawaii as a windbreak for sugar cane.[15]
1888
The first commercial orchard of macadamias was planted at Rous Mill, 12 km from Lismore, New South Wales, by Charles Staff.[16]
1889
Joseph Maiden, Australian botanist, wrote, "It is well worth extensive cultivation, for the nuts are always eagerly bought."[17]
1910
The Hawaiian Agricultural Experiment Station encouraged planting of macadamias on Hawaii's Kona District, as a crop to supplement coffee production in the region.[18]
1916
Tom Petrie begins trial macadamia plantations in Maryborough, Queensland, combining macadamias with pecans to shelter the trees.[19]
1922
Ernest Van Tassel formed the Hawaiian Macadamia Nut Co in Hawaii.[20]
1925
Tassel leased 75 acres (30 ha) on Round Top in Honolulu and began Nutridge, Hawaii's first macadamia seed farm.[21]
1931
Tassel established a macadamia-processing factory on Puhukaina Street in Kakaako, Hawaii, selling the nuts as Van's Macadamia Nuts.
1937
Winston Jones and J. H. Beaumont of the University of Hawaii's Agricultural Experiment Station reported the first successful grafting of macadamias, paving the way for mass production.[22]
1940s
Steve Angus, Murwillumbah, Australia, formed Macadamia Nuts Pty Ltd, doing small-scale nut processing.[23]
1946
A large plantation was established in Hawaii.[24][25]
1953
Castle & Cooke added a new brand of macadamia nuts called "Royal Hawaiian", which was credited with popularizing the nuts in the U.S.
1997
Australia surpassed the United States as the major producer of macadamias.[18]
2012–2015
South Africa surpassed Australia as the largest producer of macadamias.[26][3]
2014
The manner in which macadamia nuts were served on Korean Air Flight 86 from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City led to a "nut rage incident", which gave the nuts high visibility in South Korea and marked a sharp increase in consumption there.[27][28]
Some more Information
Macadamia integrifolia
Family: Proteaceae
Macadamia nut
Native to Australia
Tree shape is variable, can be pruned to convenient size. Leaves are dark green with prickly edges to 8" long and 2" wide in whorls of three. Small white flowers, no petals, in racemes in Spring (6 to 7 months from flower to nut).
These trees can grow quite tall and they have deep roots to survive in dry climates. The timber is a very hard wood to cut if you are pruning the tree.
There is a leathery outer husk that splits open revealing the very hard-shelled nut, 1/2 to 1 in diameter. Delicious fresh nut, may be roasted and salted. Tolerates all Florida soils. Plant likes lots of water, will live through some flooding, as well as some drought once established. Species: Smooth-shelled Macadamia (Macadamia integrifolia Maiden and Betche), Rough-shelled Macadamia (M. tetraphylla L. Johnson). Hybrid forms exist between the two species. Varieties: Arkin Papershell, Beaumont, Dana White. Season: September to December.