Hickory Nut

Shagbark hickory is a tall deciduous tree of eastern North America, easily recognised by its bark that peels away in long, curling plates. The nut is enclosed in a thick green husk that splits into four sections as it dries in autumn. Inside is a pale, smooth to slightly ridged shell, thick and very hard, around a kernel of two convoluted lobes, similar in shape to a pecan but smaller and tighter. The kernel is sweet, buttery and distinctly aromatic, with a flavour often described as a bolder, more maple-like cousin of pecan and walnut. Shelling is laborious, so hickory nuts are mostly gathered locally rather than sold widely. They are available as shelled kernels from specialty foragers and farmers markets, and the wood is separately famous for smoking meat.

Shagbark hickory is native to eastern North America, from southeastern Canada through the Great Lakes region and the eastern United States to the Gulf states. The genus Carya takes its name from the Greek word for nut or walnut, and the English word hickory comes from pawcohiccora, an Algonquian term for a milky drink made by pounding the nuts, recorded by early colonists in Virginia. Hickories are close relatives of pecan, which is also a Carya species, and of walnuts. The trees are slow to bear, often taking more than a decade before producing nuts, and they have a deep taproot that makes transplanting difficult. Commercial orchards never developed to the scale of pecans, so the nut remains largely wild-harvested.

Indigenous peoples of eastern North America gathered hickory nuts in great quantities each autumn, and archaeological sites across the region contain abundant shell fragments dating back thousands of years. Nutmeats were pounded and boiled, and the oil that rose to the top was skimmed off and used like butter or mixed into cornbread and soups; the nut milk described by early colonists was a thickened, creamy drink. The nuts could be stored through winter and were a key calorie source. European settlers adopted the nuts for baking, candy and ice cream, and hickory wood became prized for tool handles, wagon wheels and later for smoking hams and bacon, a link that still shapes American barbecue. President Andrew Jackson's nickname, Old Hickory, drew on the toughness of the wood. Loss of mature trees to land clearing and the labour of cracking the nuts reduced popular use, but foragers, chefs and nut growers have recently renewed interest, and a few hybrids between hickory and pecan, called hicans, are grown.

Hickory nuts can be eaten raw, toasted or used in any recipe that calls for pecans or walnuts, including pies, cookies, pralines, breads, pancakes and ice cream. They pair particularly well with maple syrup. Historically they were pounded to make an oily paste, a milk and a cooking fat. Hickory nut oil is occasionally pressed for local use. Shells are used as fuel and as mulch, and hickory wood chips are the classic smoking wood for pork, ribs and cured meats. The tree is also planted for shade and for its brilliant golden autumn colour.

Like other tree nuts, hickory nuts are high in fat, mostly unsaturated, and supply modest protein, fibre, manganese, magnesium and thiamin. Specific clinical studies on hickory nuts are limited, so benefits are inferred from research on related nuts such as pecans and walnuts, which suggests that regular nut intake in place of less healthy snacks may support cardiovascular health. They are very energy dense, so small portions are sensible.