Macadamia nut

Macadamia integrifolia, M. tetraphylla

nuts & seeds

The round, buttery seed of a tree from the tropical forests of Queensland, Australia, named in honour of the chemist John Macadam; the richest of all nuts in monounsaturated fats.

Origin

Rainforests of Australia

Season (United States)

all year round · grows in your region

Preparation

Its very hard shell needs a special nutcracker, so it is almost always bought shelled. Eaten raw or roasted, as it is or in biscuits.

Molecules

Vitamin B1 (thiamine) · Monounsaturated fatty acids

Did you know?

Its shell is so hard it takes a force of about 2,000 newtons to crack; and Hawaii, where its seeds arrived in the 1880s, was the world's largest producer for over a century.