Hazelnuts and Filberts are the same nut.
Technically, the Hazelnut is raised in Oregon and Washington
on a bush the produces the nuts in late October. Hazelnuts
are also grown as a crop in British Columbia, Canada,
along the Fraser River:
No where else on earth is a commercial Hazelnut crop
grown.
The Filbert is a cousin of the hazelnut.
Filberts, hazelnuts and cobnuts all belong to the
family Corylus... Generally speaking the name "filbert"
is applied to the oblong nuts of two varieties of
hazel native to Europe, Corylus avellana pontica and
C. maxima; "cobnut" to
another native European variety C. avellana grandis
which produces a large round nut; and "hazelnut"
to the American varieties C. americana and C. cornuta,
which bear small roundish nuts.
The name filbert was used because the nut is found
in Turkey, Greece, and Italy - all Mediterranean countries
and all tied to Christianity. The Filbert bush blooms
in February on St. Filbert's day and the name "Filbert"
was a local term for the plant. The name was extended
to the nut. Over 90% of the world crop of filberts/hazelnuts
is grown in these countries and exported throughout
the world.
The Filbert is a smaller nut and many bakers in other
countries grind them up to use as a powder ingredient
for breads and pastries when the almond prices are
high.
The Oregon Hazelnut is much larger and the finest
variety is called a Barcelona. Nut roasters prefer
the Hazelnut because it looks much better in a roasted
mixture. We usually only have Hazelnuts, although
some times we carry Filberts. I could easily carry
both.
Since nobody has ever "yuppified" the nut
industry like they have to wines, coffees, teas and
many other items, I will tell you a bit more about
the Oregon Hazelnut.
Over half the crop that comes in during October is cleaned in the shell and shipped to
the supermarkets of the United States before Thanksgiving for resale at Christmas time.
The remaining crop is shelled, sized, and graded
for sales to firms like The Nut Factory. We use over
15,000 pounds of Hazelnuts a year and we slice, roast,
package and combine them as a part of our mixed nuts
and fruit/nut mixtures. The taste is a serious and
haunting addition to any mixture, and the best example
you have of how interesting the nut is can be found
in my English
Mixture which is by my estimation one of the
several finest mixes I ever created.
There are many side stories on the Hazelnut and many
interesting comments on how we slice and dice the
nut, but that is for another time e....
Return to the Hazelnut.
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