Nuts

While peanuts, which aren’t really nuts, and pecans, which were planted in the Lowcountry only in this century, have become the most popular nuts used in modern Lowcountry cooking, native black walnuts and “English” walnuts from abroad were more popular in earlier times. The nut mixture that I use for my Huguenot Torte provides an intense and rich flavor in piecrusts, as breading, and in ice cream. For the fall holidays, which come quickly on the heels of the nut harvests, sugared and salted nuts appear at the many parties of the season. Perfect pecan halves garnish desserts, salads, and spicy cheese biscuits. Peanuts are boiled, ground for soups and stuffings, and salted for snacks. And walnuts are sugared with freshly squeezed orange juice.