The macadamia, also known as “Australian walnut”, is native to East Australia, New Caledonia and Indonesia. Huge plantations of macadamia are grown in Hawaii. They are small to large subtropical evergreen trees. The fruit is a very hard woody globose follicle with a pointed apex, containing one or two seeds. The macadamia nut's kernel is extremely hard to mine out of its shell, which makes macadamia nuts quite expensive. This very delicious “walnut” is named after John Macadam – a Scotsman who lived in Queensland and was the first to cultivate this plant. Nowadays macadamia nuts are cultivated in Hawaii, South America, Africa and the USA. Macadamia nuts are extremely healthy because they are rich in proteins and calcium. |