News from my <10m value chain: hazelnuts

There are two hazelnut bushes in my courtyard and the nuts are ready super early this year due to the crazy record-breaking hot summer.

Hazelnut production is one of the agri-industries most affected by climate change. This is because 70% of global supply comes from Turkey’s Black Sea region, where temperature and rain patterns are becoming unfavorable for our favorite Nutella ingredient.

So I thought: now or never! Start picking them before it’s too late! In Germany, you can find hazelnut bushes planted in many parks and along streets. Naturally, they grow on the forest edges. If you don’t know what they look like, google it.

The fallen, ripe nuts are dark brown (hazel color!) on the inside and can be eaten raw, straight from the ground if you have a nutcracker at hand. What I found out though, is that they are even yummier when roasted and peeled.

You crack the nuts, heat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius and roast them for about 15 minutes on a sheet with baking paper. Move them every once in a while. Then take them out, dump onto a kitchen cloth and rub fiercely until the thin dark skins come off. This can take a while and not all will come off. After this rubbing I put them back in the oven for another five minutes to get a light roast. The bitter taste of the skins is gone and our little friends smell like the most intense hazelnut gelato 🙂

The final product.

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