Sapucaya Nut

sapucaya nut sometimes spelled ‘sapucaia’ and also called paradise nut, is among the best nuts in the world, but available only in Brazil and Guyana. It comes from trees of the genus Lecythis. The main species is L. zabucajo, but there are scores of others, all natives of the same region and generally known as monkey pot nuts (see below).

The genus is closely related to that of the brazil nut, and the largest trees are almost as tall as the huge Brazil nut tree. However, a significant difference in their containers has made it impossible to market sapucaya nuts commercially, despite their excellence. Like Brazil nuts they are encased in a big, round, woody container, but that of the sapucaya has a detachable base or ‘lid’. Whereas the whole container of the Brazil nut falls bodily off the tree, only the lid of the sapucaya comes away, allowing the nuts within to fall out singly or to be picked out by monkeys and parrots, who also compete, indeed fight, for those which fall to the ground. Since monkeys can run faster than people, and parrots can fly, human collectors get only a few nuts. These are eaten locally, either as dessert nuts or in chocolate and confectionery.