Hazelnuts

When most Americans think “hazelnut,” it’s in the singular and is a delicious flavoring for coffee. When Zaqatalians think “hazelnut,” it’s findig, a bounteous nut crop that’s wonderful for eating and profitable for selling.

            Azerbaijan is the world’s 4^th most hazelnut producing country, behind Turkey, Italy, and the US. Zaqatala and its neighboring regions along the Caucus mountains are where you’ll find the most findig in Azerbaijan. As you drive up the major highway, you will see groves of the short tree that consists of many long shoots all originating from the base. My host family has about 10 trees in our yard on the way to the outhouse, and about 50 trees in the Soviet-allotted family plot, a 15 minute walk away.

Trees and fallen cobs in our yard.

            Late summer is harvesting season, and here in Muxax we like to do it the old fashioned way. Gather up willing members of the family, pack a lunch (including a big thermos of hot tea), bring your buckets and sacks, and head out to the grove. Get a man, or the strongest member of your company, to shake the branches and get all the ready nuts in their cobs to blanket the ground. Drop to your knees or haunches, and pick, pick, pick. When your bucket’s full, empty it to a sack, and repeat until there’s no more left to pick. (My host mom calculated they get about 8 kilos (17.6 pounds) of cleaned nut from each tree.) Find somebody with a truck to take the sacks back home. Pour out the bags in a covered area. Start to husk the nuts out of their cobs by hand, or use the husking machine and pay its rental fee with a percentage of the nuts (4%). As you will not likely finish all this in one day, remember to churn the pile of nuts and cobs with a pitchfork at least once a day or the nuts could rot from moisture. Sell as many nuts as you think you won’t use till next season. Consider the baklava, kete, and other sweets you’ll bake, the party mix you’ll toast, and the bags you’ll give away as gifts to out-of-towners. You can sell at numerous shops around the village and roadside buyers. This year you’ll fetch 1.30-1.50 manat a kilo ($2.86 a pound). My host moms sold 90 kilos, my neighbors around 300. To get perspective, my host mom made a little over her monthly salary from the nuts.

 Pile of uncleaned nuts under the loft

When I went to harvest hazelnuts it rained after just two hours of working. 

            Whether you know them better in Nutella, Sokki Mokki, Ferrero Rocher, or Tutku, there’s nothing better than a fresh hazelnut picked off the ground, and cracked open with your teeth. Try it if you get a chance.