PECANS

Pecans were first used by American indigenous people before the development of agriculture. They were brought to Europe, Asia and Africa by Spanish conquerors in the 16th century, which were introduced to them in the area of today’s Mexico and Texas.

The first botanical records of the pecan tree were made at the end of the 18th century.

Pecans may be used in baking and confectionery or making raw vegan desserts. We can replace ordinary walnuts with them to get even richer and creamy texture of dishes.

They go well with pork, chicken and cheese or pumpkin dishes. They are also excellent for enriching salads and salad dressings.

As much as 75% of all pecans in the world grow in the US, followed by Mexico (20 %), South African Republic, Australia, Peru and Israel. Interestingly, the cultivation started quite late – at the end of 19th century.

Trees of American walnut grow between 20 and 40 meters in height and have oblong swap leaves. If we are accurate, baked are not nuts, but the seeds of stone fruits that grow on these trees.

Pecan tree is the official tree of the United States of America, and “the capital city of pecans” is the city of Albany in Georgia.

Many of the 1000 varieties of pecans share their names with Indian tribes – for example Cheyenne, Mohawk, Sioux and Choctaw.