Say nuts to your foodservice accounts

Chefs have figured out the nutty crust also helps to seal in the juices and introduce a crunchy texture without overcooking the interior. Mark Dorian, chef at Di Pescara, a Lettuce Entertain You restaurant in Northbrook, Ill., uses almonds seasoned with herbs to coat whitefish fillets.

Shelled pecans have healthfully high quantities of unsaturated fatty acids, which, however, tend to undergo degradation resulting in rancid off-flavor. Storage at low or freezing temperatures is one way to slow spoilage but is costly.

Researchers at USDA have developed edible coatings to extend the shelf life — and prevent rancidity — of pecans at room temperature. The researchers found coating pecans with hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) and carboxy methylcellulose (CMC) plus various other additives restricted oxygen contact with the nut fats and prevented spoilage without affecting the texture of the nut pieces.

Low-calorie options

Fisher Nuts has promoted nuts in nontraditional food usage occasions, including as a crunchy protein source in salads.

All the positive health attributes aside, nuts still have a problem with fats. In regular nuts, fat may represent as much as 50 to 70 percent of the total weight and provide an even greater proportion of the total calories.

Defatted nuts are one solution. However, they often are not as flavorful and lack the mouthfeel and textural attributes of their original, higher fat versions. This is because the process of removing fat also removes flavor compounds and often changes the texture of the material for the worse.

There are a number of methods for producing partially defatted nuts today. So formulators should inquire about the defatting method to ensure they are getting the appropriate functionality in their ingredient of choice.

Some “partially defatted peanuts” or “low-calorie peanuts,” for example, are produced by pressing the raw or blanched nuts until a portion of their oil is removed. They then are steamed or cooked in water or in water containing a flavoring agent to reconstitute the pressed nuts substantially back to their original size and shape. These reconstituted nuts may then be further processed — for example, they may be heated in oil, dry roasted, etc. Often, flavoring is added to the oil or water bath step; the flavoring sometimes is of a different nut type to provide a synergistic richness in taste.

Cost notwithstanding, nuts offer food processors a valuable ability to differentiate products using subtle enhancements. In addition to conveying value and cache, nuts also offer a unique food-based rather than a nutrient-based approach for enhancing foodservice fare.