The festive season is just around the corner and it’s at this time of the year that we indulge and treat ourselves with delicious foods and drinks. Nuts have always been high up on the festive food list – from small bags of nuts in Christmas stockings, to a big bowl on mixed nuts on the coffee table.
Why are nuts traditional at Christmas time?
Traditionally nuts were always very expensive, so they were considered a big treat during festivities. They were also a symbol of fruitfulness and prosperity, long associated with midwinter festivals.
Seen as an indulgent ingredient, nuts have always been added to Christmas bakes, such as Christmas puddings, biscuits and desserts. Elevating an every day bake to a special celebration bake.
Most nuts mature in autumn, so they are very seasonal for this time of the year. Mother nature really knows what she is doing because nuts are also full of vitamins, essential minerals and fibre. Giving the body an all needed boost in the cold winter months when viruses and colds are more prominent.
Raw, flavoured or caramelised?
Your choice of nuts largely depend on how you would like to eat them. Raw nuts are often used as an ingredient while roasted, salted and caramelised are great for snacking on.
Nuts are raw when they haven’t been cooked or prepared in any way. Although delicious, raw nuts are mainly used in baking or cooking and are not often used for snacking. Our delicious range of premium raw nuts include are perfect for baking and cooking but also delicious to snack on.
Flavoured nuts are popularly roasted and salted and natural flavours are then added. With the exception of pistachios, most nuts are roasted outside of their shells. Roasting and salting nuts enhances their taste, flavour and crunchy texture by releasing the delicious nutty aromas – making them a popular healthy snack. At Medfood we love our flavoured nuts, we roast, salt and flavour all our nuts in house to make sure we delivery superior quality and taste for our customers.
Apart from our popular roasted and salted nuts (cashews being the most popular – above) we love our lemon roasted and smoked almonds (below), our decadent saffron and lime and sea salt and black pepper cashews, our chilli roasted peanuts and our delicious lemon roasted, saffron and sumac pistachios.
Caramelised or candied nuts are fantastic to snack on and are fun and delicious to eat. We use blossom honey in our caramelisation to bring you delicious tasty nuts, salty and sweet and crunchy to eat. Caramelised nuts are really indulgent and most people have them at special occasions, especially at Christmas time and other celebrations.
We love our honey and chilli almonds and cashews, our honey cinnamon cashews and our popular honey sesame cashews (above). But why not try something new? Honey roasted hazelnuts and macadamia nuts are crunchy and buttery and our mixed honey roasted nuts bring you a new taste with every bit.
Discover our full range of nuts in Our Products.
The nutritional super heroes
Most nuts have a high proportion of monounsaturated fat, which is a healthy fat that our body needs. They also offer protein, vitamin E and a number of minerals.
Here are 7 nutty facts that we thought you might like.
1. Eating only two brazil nuts a day can provide you with your selenium intake for the day.
2. Almonds are high in good fats, which helps to protect the heart, but they also include vitamin E, selenium, zinc, calcium, magnesium and B vitamins.
3. Pistachios are not only tasty and fun to eat but also super healthy. They are one of the most B6 rich foods. Vitamin B6 helps to regulation of blood sugar and the formation of haemoglobin, the molecule that carries oxygen in our red blood cells.
4. Good for our brains, walnuts contain phytochemicals which helps to keep our brains healthy and boost our mood. So next time you’re feeling down with the darker weather, eat a handful of walnuts to boost your mood.
5. Hazelnuts are a fantastic healthy snack and their outer skins provide us with lots of fibre. Rich in antioxidants, they help to protect our cells from damage.
6. Pecans pack a 1-2-3 punch of protein, healthy fats and fibre to keep you energised and satisfied. Plus their buttery rich flavour is full of good fats that keep us from getting hungry.
7. The humble peanut is a good source of healthy fat, protein and fibre and are full of potassium, phosphorous, magnesium and B vitamins. They are not only nutritionally rich, they are also low in carbohydrates.
If you would like to discuss your business needs with us, call our sales team on 020 8965 6528 or contact us for more information.
