Rapunzel Nut Snacks
How often do you think of peanuts? Probably never. We encounter the peanut mostly on the coffee table or in English pubs – thus especially where a cold beer is within reach. Because the peanut not only tastes delicious, but also stirs thirst, it is the ideal party snack. Aside from that, most people know relatively little about them. For example, that the peanut is actually not a nut, but a legume. Or that they originally come from the Andes and have been grown there for millennia. Or that September 13th is the national peanut day in the US. The American peanut enthusiasm may partly be due to the penchant for peanut butter. However, the peanut also plays a quite significant role in the American history. A man named George Washington Carver takes center stage of this story.
Carver was born in the 19th century as a slave in Missouri. Because he was too weak to work on the fields due to his bronchitis, he spent his days as a teenager with studying wild plants. His neighbors realized his green fingers early and made him patch up their potted plants, earning him the nickname "plant doctor". When slavery was abolished Carver could pursue his passion and study botany. He quickly became famous across the country because of his articles on the study of plant diseases. At the Iowa State College of Agriculture, he accepted a professorship and became the first colored faculty member. In this position, he received a request from Tuskegee in Alabama. The president of the local agricultural institute asked Carver for help. The soil in Tuskegee always has been barren. Thus people impoverished. Carver, who himself grew up in a poor family decided to help and moved to Tuskegee. He established a makeshift laboratory together with students and started working.
Because the soil was leached by cotton cultivation, Carver sowed Peanuts. The locals then told him that he was crazy because peanuts were known only as animal feed. Legumes such as peanuts bring back nutrients in the soil. After the first harvest Carver invited farmers for dinner, in which numerous peanut dishes were served. The peanut butter was particularly well received and eaten either pure or with bread and jam. Thus the farmers were convinced to also sow peanuts. However a few years later so many peanuts were harvested that their price hit rock bottom and the living conditions of the farmers deteriorated enormously again. Carver then retreated back to his lab. When he came out again he had made, among others ink, shaving cream, color, synthetic marble, shoe polish and impregnation from peanuts. In total Carver found over 300 uses for the peanut, which earned him the reputation of an American Leonardo da Vinci. With the new sales opportunities, demand picked up massively and agriculture in the South experienced a renewed upswing.
If now you got an appetite for classic peanuts, the peanuts from Rapunzel are just right. Gentle roasted with hot air and salted with a sense of proportion they are the perfect snack for an evening in front of the TV, a cozy get-together or just for in between. In the Rapunzel Nut Mix the peanut gets company from cashews and almonds. Mixed in equal parts this mix is a wonderful alternative to the trail mix - especially if you do not like raisins. Rapunzel Almonds also taste fantastic. Supposedly they have an interesting side effect. Many people, who eat a handful of almonds during the day report that they feel less hungry between meals. Are you tempted to grab in the drawer with candy between meals? With the delicious almonds from Rapunzel you may possibly resist a little longer. The Rapunzel Cashews, whose sweet-nutty character is complemented by sea salt, are recommendable.
Whether peanuts, almonds or cashews - at Rapunzel they are all gently roasted with hot air. Thus the full flavor unfolds and the snacks become especially crisp. Subsequently the nuts are mixed along with fair trade palm oil as well as sea salt and packed freshly roasted.
