Hazelnut

About

Hazelnuts have a sweet, buttery flavor with cocoa-like hints that make them a strong match for chocolate, with Piedmont-grown hazelnuts especially prized for quality; lower-grade nuts can taste woody or metallic. Roasting significantly boosts hazelnut flavor, and the nuts work well ground into coatings for delicate seafood, as a base for rich sauces, as an oil for baking or dressings, or in liqueurs like Frangelico and crème de noisette.

Pairs well with hazelnut

• SuGarlicSpanish picada is a sauce of pounded nuts, garlic, bread and oil -- sometimes made with hazelnuts, sometimes almonds, sometimes both --…
• WoAlmondAlmond and hazelnut combine well in simple, improvised preparations, such as toasted bread drizzled with hazelnut oil and topped with…
• FrAppleHazelnut and apple pair well in both savory and sweet dishes, a pork loin stuffed with hazelnuts, or a hazelnut pastry crust for apple…
• RoChocolateChocolate and hazelnut became a defining pairing in 19th-century Piedmont, Italy, when scarce cocoa was stretched by grinding in hazelnuts…
• FfVanillaFrangelico, a hazelnut liqueur from Piedmont, Italy, is made with toasted wild hazelnuts, vanilla and cocoa, giving it a smooth, buttery…
• MeChickenHazelnut's nutty, cocoa-like flavor, with meaty, earthy undertones, pairs well with chicken, especially when the nuts are roasted or…
• GrAvocadoMexican food writer Diana Kennedy notes that avocados can carry hazelnut and anise notes, particularly the Fuerte variety.
• WoCarrotSince carrot cake recipes often call for vegetable oil, substituting hazelnut oil (diluted with sunflower oil if too strong) adds extra…
• RoCoffeeCoffee and hazelnut is considered one of the most reliable ice cream flavor pairings, especially in good Italian and French gelaterias.
• CrBananaHazelnut butter -- distinct from browned butter (beurre noisette) -- tastes like Ferrero Rocher without the chocolate or added sugar, and…
• BeRosemaryChef Heston Blumenthal combines the two in a couscous dish: couscous toasted in oil, then cooked in water infused with fresh rosemary,…
• FrStrawberryRoasted hazelnut's deep but not overpowering flavor pairs well with strawberry, letting the fruit's flavor show through in a way chocolate…
• FrPearHazelnut oil loses some of its flavor when cooked but is very flavorful drizzled raw over vegetables or worked into a vinaigrette.
• FfFigFrangipane, the soft nut-paste filling used in French tarts, is usually made with almonds, but hazelnuts work just as well, especially…
• FfRaspberryBoth grow wild in the Dolomites and come together in Austrian Linzertorte, one of the oldest recorded cake recipes (dating to 1696): a…
• FrCherryDried sour cherries have a tangy sweetness with hints of tobacco and tannic tea, which pairs well with hazelnut's milky sweetness - a good…
• MaCaviarHazelnut flavor is detectable across a wide range of foods and drinks, including aged white Burgundy, Champagne, oysters, jabugo ham,…