Ann's Blog

Curepe, Trinidad:
December 9, 2011
The nuts that come
with their own bowl

Which is why Steve could be seen hacksawing his way into the rock-hard cannonball that evening. We couldn’t figure out how else to get at the goodies inside. We didn’t realize that this particular cannonball wasn’t ready to be opened, and when we finally got to the nuts, they were underripe and bitter, seriously disappointing. In a nutshell, not worth cleaning the hacksaw for.

But you probably know by now that Steve and I don’t give up just because of one unpalatable experience. So this year, our Trinidad to-do list included the following: “Buy Brazil nuts.”

There were no cannonball vendors along the highway at the Curepe junction, however, when we stopped at the light there last week. But – detour time – another vendor told us we’d find them at a sidewalk produce stall a couple blocks off the highway to the north.

Yes, the guy manning the tables at the stall had Brazil nuts and, bonus, we could bombard him with questions without worrying about when the light was going to change. He pointed out a prominent line around the circumference of the pod. “That means it ready,” he said. All we had to do was bang it against something hard and it would open, no tools necessary.

At home, Steve gave the first pod (we bought three) a sharp thwack against concrete, and its top popped cleanly off, like the lid of a canister. Beautiful. Inside were nestled about 30 Brazil nuts, with some white fruit attached to each. The vendor had told me I could put this white flesh in a blender, add milk or water, sugar, and spices, and make a punch. I confess I didn’t try it; I was focused on the nuts.

They look somewhat different than the ones we get in North America, which are imported from Brazil and other South American countries. Their shells are faceted, in a wrinkled kind of way (though we suspect if the pod were left on the tree longer, the nuts, and shells, would fill out more). The vendor told us we could eat them right out of the shell or roast them in the oven first. Unroasted, they were soft (almost rubbery), barely hinting of any nut, let alone a Brazil nut. Roasted in the shell – the vendor had suggested 5–10 minutes – brought out more flavor. But when I shelled them and then roasted them until they were golden, they turned rich and buttery, nutty good. They still tasted different, however, from the Brazil nuts we know and love.

They offer more party fun, though, than Planters. We made friends guess what was inside the cannonball – and then thwacked it open to show off the nuts that come in their own bowl.

Meanwhile, as promised, I will return to our “Taste T&T Tour” – and include Jesse’s Pineapple Chow recipe – in my next post. For now, let me tell you that our “record” – 44 Trinidadian specialties tasted –apparently no longer stands. It was broken on Jesse’s very next tour. And I’m worried: Does this mean I missed something delicious?

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