Hazelnuts: Italian high class from the bush

Just a shrub by the wayside? Think again! The "common hazel", as it is also known botanically, is an unsung hero of the plant world. The supreme class of these spherical all-rounders, which conjure up so many crunchy and creamy delights, thrives in Italy. Treat yourself to some delicious insight and find out what Seeberger hazelnuts do before they roll their way into your heart.

Anna Moscagiuri

18.04.2024

in Product stories

Reading time: 5 minutes

Hand hält reife Haselnüsse vor unscharfem Feldhintergrund mit blauem Himmel.

Hazelnuts with Heritage

The hazelnuts that we at Seeberger rely on are grown in the picturesque landscapes of Italy - Piedmont, Rome, Naples. The top varieties of hazelnut enjoyment go by the names "Runde Römer" and "Tonda Gentile" and are considered the best in the world. These varieties have been cultivated in the fields of these regions for centuries and therefore not only arouse great expectations, but also promise tradition and down-to-earthness.

Piedmont - prized and sealed

The "Nocciola Piemonte IGP" has a protected geographical indication ("PGI") and may only be grown in Piedmont - the area between the Alps and Genoa. It is also known as "Tonda Gentile delle Langhe" and is prized for its aroma and fine texture. The region enjoys an excellent reputation for growing top-quality hazelnuts. At Seeberger, we use the "Tonda Gentile" for our roasted hazelnut kernels, as their flavor is clearly at home in the sweet corner. They are also easy to blanch.

Haselnusskätzchen hängen von einem verzweigten Ast vor unscharfem blauem Himmel und braunem Hintergrund.

Take: Volcanic earth and sunlight

Further south, embraced by the gentle waves of the Mediterranean, Rome and Naples unveil their own version of hazelnut paradise. The sun-drenched fields and hillsides, steeped in the vibrant history and culture of ancient Italy, provide a perfect stage for growing our delicious "Round Romans". The secret? Perhaps it's Naples' rich volcanic soil near Mount Vesuvius, which is brimming with minerals. In any case, the "Round Romans" are the greatest delicacies on their own, which is why they have the honor of shining as a Seeberger solo snack and in our nut mixes.

Cold days, warm thoughts

Patience is not their strong point: in the middle of winter, when the entire plant world - even in Italy - is still deep in cold mode, hazelnut bushes are already ready for summer. They start to form their flowers in the fall, and from January onwards they really step on the gas and spread millions of pollen in the air. At this time, the shrub is still far from bearing leaves.

A feast for buzzers

Like many other plants, hazel also produces male and female flowers. The male hazel catkins are elongated tubes 5 - 8 cm long, which hang from the branches in their thousands like spring decorations. Although they look inconspicuous, they are a ray of hope for many starving insects, for whom they often provide the first real meal of the year with their pollen.

Bäume bilden eine grüne Allee, die einen schattigen Weg in ländlicher Umgebung umrahmt.

Hazel in the air

The male flowers make up for what the female flowers save in terms of insect food: They have no petals, nor do they produce nectar - in short, they have absolutely no appetite for flying creatures. They remain small and inconspicuous, but thanks to the industrious male catkins this is not a problem - pollination takes place purely via the pollen-laden air. However, fertilization by pollen from their own tree does not work.

When it gets warm ...

In contrast to the flowers, the hazelnuts themselves like to be cozy. That's why the plant discovers its leisurely side after pollination and waits until summer arrives. An egg cell only matures in the female flower from around 20 degrees - and is then fertilized by the enclosed pollen.

Cohesion on a strong bush

In summer, the young nutlets grow on the bushy hazelnut shrub, which can grow up to 5 meters high and live for 80 years. It takes around 10 years for a bush to produce its first fruit. The nuts are not solitary, they always grow in the typical cluster, which is about the size of a golf ball.

Traktor fährt durch den Wald, fegt Laub von der Erde und wirbelt Staub auf.

From shaking and collecting

When the harvesting machines arrive in September, the soil around the bushes is first cleaned and cleared of vegetation - because this is where the valuable nuts will soon end up. This is done by vibrating machines that gently shake the branches and loosen the nuts. A type of sweeper collects the harvest from the ground and prepares it for processing. In one harvest cycle, the entire plantation is harvested twice in succession at intervals of two to three weeks.

Goodbye ballast

The first step in the processing plant is "wind sifting". This is where foreign objects such as leaves, twigs and stones are removed. The nuts are then cleaned in water channels before drying in large silos for two to three days. This preserves them and prepares them for the next important step: Sorting by size and weight, which takes place in rotating drums or on vibrating sieves. Things get really serious just before loading: The nuts are cracked between two rotating steel rollers and the shell falls through the grid. So there's no unnecessary ballast on the journey to us in Ulm.

Ein Wissenschaftler pipettiert Flüssigkeit in einem modernen Labor mit sauberen, hellen Oberflächen.

Our claim for every hazelnut

Whether they come from Piedmont or Rome - they don't travel more than a few hours before they arrive at our premises. Once they arrive here, we test them from skin to heart. With our two varieties "Round Romans" and "Tonda Gentile Trilobata", we focus particularly on:

Size and shape: For the "Round Romans" in particular, we attach great importance to a harmonious spherical shape and a diameter of at least 14 millimetres. The optimum size for tondas is between 13 and 15 millimetres.
the crunch: All Seeberger hazelnuts stand out due to their particularly crunchy bite. To keep it that way, we prick up our ears with every batch. The credo: the crunch is only perfect when it's really crunchy.
the aroma: In our in-house food chemistry laboratory, we get to the bottom of the nut and test not only its size and consistency, but also its aroma. For example, we ask ourselves: What flavor notes can be tasted? How long do they remain in the mouth? Are there any undesirable secondary flavors?

Only if they have the well-known delicious Seeberger flavor will the hazelnuts get one step further:

Round Romans are packaged - whether pure or in our mixes such as Nuts'n'Berries, nut kernel mix or trail mix.
For the tondas, the journey goes a little further. They are blanched, roasted and candied - for which we open another chapter.

Your grandiose pleasure with good knowledge

You are what you eat. So it's only logical for us to show you how and where your snacks are made. But enough talk, where are the stars? Grab your velvety-sweet figs from the Turkish sun. Guaranteed from a good home and grown with love. <3