Candle nuts

I was in the Tofu Shop earlier today and, as I generally do in such markets, was poking around to see what I could find that I'd never seen before. I came up with these. Hmmm.  Kind of look like macadamia nuts. Same size and color. Maybe they taste similar? Might as well take them home and do some research. 

I put away the tofu I had purchased when I got home just before lunch time and was thinking about what sort of sandwich to make. I snipped the bag of nuts open, poured them into a bowl, and grabbed one of them to munch on as I went upstairs to look them up. Hmmm, have a crunch similar to macadamias but don't taste the same. Just a hint of bitterness.

I found a Wikipedia article on them and read, several paragraphs down, that they are mildly toxic when eaten raw. Oh great, that's good to know. Note to self. From now on, read first, taste afterwards. Farther on I discovered that I could expect stomach upset and a laxative effect. Oh boy.

When I got back downstairs, I looked more closely at the label and did see the warning written in tiny print beneath the barcode. 

I figured that one nut wasn't going to do much to me. They're only mildly toxic after all. However, I had learned my lesson and would cook the rest of them before trying any more. 

I put them in a pan, added just a little oil, and keep flipping them. When they were nicely browned, I transferred them on to some papertowels to remove the oil and salted them. Here they are. 

I discovered that they aren't all that good. That macadamia-like crunch was still there, but the flavor didn't do much for me. I decided that this experiment was concluded...but wait... 

...I had learned a little more in the article about this 'candle' nut. Why do you suppose it's called that? 

Well, of course, because you can light them and use them like a candle. Look at how nicely this is burning. Now THAT is a high oil content. I started thinking about eating a bunch of them. If they are that high in oil, wouldn't they have their 'laxative effect' whether or not they were cooked? 

I took this shot with the lights on the deck turned off. Very cozy looking and the smell of the smoke from the candle was pleasant. 

Apparently, each nut will burn about 15 minutes. In the tropical islands where these grow, it was common to string a bunch of the nuts together and light one end. As they burned, the candlenuts not only provided light, but were used to keep track of time. 

I may not have found them all that palatable, but I like these nuts very much.   -djf

BTW:  Twenty four hours later I can report that I experienced no ill effects whatsoever from eating one raw and about half a dozen cooked nuts.