Which is the Tastiest Nut: Hickory or Pecan?
This is Passport to Texas
Fall is harvest time in nature. It’s the time of year when foraging for native produce may provide us with a bountiful harvest, especially when it comes to nuts.
04—Once we get into fall that’s the time when a lot of nut trees produce.
Scooter Cheatham is a naturalist and co-author of The Useful Wild Plants of Texas, the Southeastern and Southwestern United States, the Southern Plains, and Northern Mexico, a multi-volume set of encyclopedias that details the various uses for native plants.
Native walnuts ripen in the fall, and grow wild throughout the state. The ubiquitous acorn is another edible native nut, but requires extensive processing to be palatable.
Of course pecans are a favorite around these parts, and figure prominently at the end of many Thanksgiving meals, when made into a sweet filling cradled in a flaky crust. Yet, as good as pecans are, Cheatham says there’s one nut better…its cousin the hickory.
08—A lot of people who’ve made Thanksgiving pies from hickory swear that hickory is better than pecan. They’re awfully good. I’ve made them and I’m convinced.
Learn about wild food, and never bite into anything you cannot fully identify. Acquaint yourself with these edibles by joining your local chapter of the native plant society. Or visit www.usefulwildplants.org for more information.
That’s our show for today… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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