Tasting Notes: You know how much better Macadamia Nuts taste than peanuts, much richer, smoother & more luxurious...Well that truth applies to Macadamia Nut Butter. A creamy smooth nut butter with the wonderful flavour and aroma of premium Australian Macadamia Nuts. Added health benefits are from the Mac Nut oil which is mono-unsaturate and actually helps lower cholesterol.
Natural History: Macadamia Nuts Macadamia tetraphylla & M. integrifolia are small to medium sized trees that grow in subtropical NSW and Queensland in coastal Rainforest. They are uncommon trees in the wild and can reach up to 20m in height. A mature tree can bear up to 100kg after a good season.
Macadamia Nuts are grown in northern NSW in the rolling green hills surrounding Lismore, overlooking Byron Bay. If you have been lucky enough to visit the northern rivers region you will remember those lovely neat rows of Macadamia nut trees lining the hills, soaking up the sunshine and turning it into the worlds tastiest nut!Today Australia is rightfully the worlds largest producer of Macadamia Nuts, producing millions of delicious crunchy nuts that are mostly exported throughout the world with America being the biggest market. This has caused us headaches over the last 2 years, increasing demand combined with the effects of drought have pushed up prices by 40%.
Cultural History: Macadamia Nut trees were highly prized by Aboriginal tribes producing a reliable and very high quality food in the rainforest. Today, at the base of big old Macadamia Nut trees in northern NSW you can still see the big flat rock slabs where Aboriginal people would sit and crack the nut shells with a smaller rock. These rock slabs often have a depression in the middle, like a bowl from being slammed with macadamia nuts and rocks over the hundreds of years.
Traditionally the Aboriginal diet was very low in foods that contained oils, fats and fatty acids all of which are present in Macadamia Nuts. The Aboriginals were very aware of which species of Macadamias were edible and which were toxic. This same knowledge was quickly absorbed by early settlers and they planted the edible trees at their homesteads where they were a cherished delicacy.
In the early 1800's botanists had recognised the potential of the Macadamia but by this time American entreprenneurs had already started growing and selecting superior forms in the fertile climate of Hawii. It wasn't until the 1960's that Australia finally started to put in its own commercial plantations by which time the world knew the Macadamia as the 'Hawian Nut'. It has taken a long time but today most people seem to realise that the Macadamia Nut is an Australian native tree.
Ingredients: Premium Oven Roasted Macadamia Nuts Macadamia integrefolia (99.8%), Sea Salt.
