bunya nuts

[John Savage]

The other day while strolling around some Sydney suburbs I came across
a couple of bunya nuts on the footpath. Well, I guess they were bunya
nuts: larger than a human head, with a pineapple texture, and something
resembling yellow pus oozing out of cracks due to the heavy impact with
the concrete footpath after a 25 foot drop. (Just think of the size of
any compensation claim if one were to hit a pedestrian!)

Anyway, I'd like to learn the right way to roast a bunya nut. Anyone?
--
John Savage (for email, replace "ks" with "k" and delete "n")

[Richard Wright]

Roast them for 20 minutes in a hot oven, but drill a hole through the
skin if you don't want an explosion.

They are the most over-rated nuts around. Not a patch on roasted
Spanish chestnuts.

Think of them as a tasteless source of nutrition - like potatoes or
dumplings.

Richard


On Fri, 14 Feb 2003 17:55:35 GMT, John Savage
> wrote:

>The other day while strolling around some Sydney suburbs I came across
>a couple of bunya nuts on the footpath. Well, I guess they were bunya
>nuts: larger than a human head, with a pineapple texture, and something
>resembling yellow pus oozing out of cracks due to the heavy impact with
>the concrete footpath after a 25 foot drop. (Just think of the size of
>any compensation claim if one were to hit a pedestrian!)
>
>Anyway, I'd like to learn the right way to roast a bunya nut. Anyone?

[Just a little bit]

On Fri, 14 Feb 2003 17:55:35 GMT, John Savage >
wrote:

> The other day while strolling around some Sydney suburbs I came across
> a couple of bunya nuts on the footpath. Well, I guess they were bunya
> nuts: larger than a human head, with a pineapple texture, and something
> resembling yellow pus oozing out of cracks due to the heavy impact with
> the concrete footpath after a 25 foot drop. (Just think of the size of
> any compensation claim if one were to hit a pedestrian!)

The yellow stuff was probably a mashed brain from the impact with someone's
head. ;-)

[Trish Brown]

Just a little bit wrote:
>
> On Fri, 14 Feb 2003 17:55:35 GMT, John Savage >
> wrote:
>
> > The other day while strolling around some Sydney suburbs I came across
> > a couple of bunya nuts on the footpath. Well, I guess they were bunya
> > nuts: larger than a human head, with a pineapple texture, and something
> > resembling yellow pus oozing out of cracks due to the heavy impact with
> > the concrete footpath after a 25 foot drop. (Just think of the size of
> > any compensation claim if one were to hit a pedestrian!)
>
> The yellow stuff was probably a mashed brain from the impact with someone's
> head. ;-)

Someone told me once that there's actually a death-rate (probably
recorded in the Australian Yearbook) from being dumped on by a Bunya
Pine tree! I like that notion! ;-D

Triffids of the world, unite!
--
Trish {|:-}
Newcastle, NSW, Australia

[Lorraine Holloway]

Hi, found this info on a web site "Australian plants online"

"The simplest way to prepare Bunya nuts for eating is to put them in a
saucepan of water and boild for about half an hour. Remove from the water
and split open while still hot. Remove from the shell and serve with butter
(pepper and salf if required). They may be eaten cold, but are better hot."

Regards,
Lorraine
"John Savage" > wrote in message
om...
> The other day while strolling around some Sydney suburbs I came across
> a couple of bunya nuts on the footpath. Well, I guess they were bunya
> nuts: larger than a human head, with a pineapple texture, and something
> resembling yellow pus oozing out of cracks due to the heavy impact with
> the concrete footpath after a 25 foot drop. (Just think of the size of
> any compensation claim if one were to hit a pedestrian!)
>
> Anyway, I'd like to learn the right way to roast a bunya nut. Anyone?
> --
> John Savage (for email, replace "ks" with "k" and delete "n")
>

[Bushy]

Say it with flowers, give her a triffid!
;<)
Peter

[Jeremy Cullinan]

One dropped on my wifes uncles car while parked in front of her parents
house (the tree only spawns one pod about every 10 years) and it did quite a
lot of damage to it, smashed windscreen, dented roof/bonnet etc.

J

"Lorraine Holloway" > wrote in message
. ..
> Hi, found this info on a web site "Australian plants online"
>
> "The simplest way to prepare Bunya nuts for eating is to put them in a
> saucepan of water and boild for about half an hour. Remove from the water
> and split open while still hot. Remove from the shell and serve with
butter
> (pepper and salf if required). They may be eaten cold, but are better
hot."
>
> Regards,
> Lorraine
> "John Savage" > wrote in message
> om...
> > The other day while strolling around some Sydney suburbs I came across
> > a couple of bunya nuts on the footpath. Well, I guess they were bunya
> > nuts: larger than a human head, with a pineapple texture, and something
> > resembling yellow pus oozing out of cracks due to the heavy impact with
> > the concrete footpath after a 25 foot drop. (Just think of the size of
> > any compensation claim if one were to hit a pedestrian!)
> >
> > Anyway, I'd like to learn the right way to roast a bunya nut. Anyone?
> > --
> > John Savage (for email, replace "ks" with "k" and delete "n")
> >
>
>

[John Savage]

"Lorraine Holloway" > writes:
>Hi, found this info on a web site "Australian plants online"
>
>"The simplest way to prepare Bunya nuts for eating is to put them in a
>saucepan of water and boild for about half an hour. Remove from the water
>and split open while still hot. Remove from the shell and serve with butter
>(pepper and salf if required). They may be eaten cold, but are better hot."

Thanks Lorraine. The ones I saw were bigger than any boiler I'd have.
I'm surprised at the half hour cooking time. I anticipated they'd have
to be cooked for hours to get any heat through to centre of the nut! I
think I'd have to resort to roasting in the oven, simply because the
nut is so huge.
--
John Savage (newsgroup email invalid; keep news replies in newsgroup)

[Terry Collins]

John Savage wrote:

....snip.....

> Thanks Lorraine. The ones I saw were bigger than any boiler I'd have.
> I'm surprised at the half hour cooking time. I anticipated they'd have
> to be cooked for hours to get any heat through to centre of the nut! I
> think I'd have to resort to roasting in the oven, simply because the
> nut is so huge.

They are small potatoe size. The cone is usually broken open and breaks
up into individual "nutlets". You might have to use an axe, mallet,
sledge, etc to encourage this.


--
Terry Collins {:-)}}} email: terryc at woa.com.au www:
http://www.woa.com.au
Wombat Outdoor Adventures <Bicycles, Computers, GIS, Printing,
Publishing>

"People without trees are like fish without clean water"

[Tim]

John Savage > writes:

> "Lorraine Holloway" > writes:
> >Hi, found this info on a web site "Australian plants online"
> >
> >"The simplest way to prepare Bunya nuts for eating is to put them in a
> >saucepan of water and boild for about half an hour. Remove from the water
> >and split open while still hot. Remove from the shell and serve with butter
> >(pepper and salf if required). They may be eaten cold, but are better hot."
>
> Thanks Lorraine. The ones I saw were bigger than any boiler I'd have.
> I'm surprised at the half hour cooking time. I anticipated they'd have
> to be cooked for hours to get any heat through to centre of the nut! I
> think I'd have to resort to roasting in the oven, simply because the
> nut is so huge.

I'm shocked that I'm actually explaining this to someone; but having
grown up on a property named "Bunya Ridge" I've an unfair
advantage...

The "nut" (cone?) when ripe will break apart into a (huge) number of
thorny kernels. I suggest stripping the thorny covering off the
kernels (which will reveal a leathery inner kernel a little bigger
than a man's thumb. I expect these are most likely the "nuts" called
for in Lorraine's recipe.

Half-an-hour's cooking sounds about right; and unless the butter is
fairly salty, you will require the pepper and salt. My memory of them
may be summed up "extremely bland". The flavour is a little suggestive
of potato; but I suspect you would need to be fairly hungry to
appreciate it!

Happy Cooking!
Tim.

[John Savage]

In an article last month I wrote:
>The other day while strolling around some Sydney suburbs I came across
>a couple of bunya nuts on the footpath. Well, I guess they were bunya
>nuts: larger than a human head, with a pineapple texture, and something

As luck would have it, there was a short story on bunya nuts on the
Ch. 10 afternoon program 'Totally Wild'. The bunya tree is thought to
originate back in the time of the dinosaurs and has characteristic
leaves: hard with razor sharp edges. The tree can grow 4 or 5 cones,
and each takes 3 years to develop to maturity. Each contains up to
100 nuts which in their shell appear to me something like Brazil nuts
in their shell, but of a lighter colour.

Many thanks to those who replied. Next year in late January I'll be
prepared for a feast!

The macadamia bounty this year has been disappointing--a consequence
of the drought. The kernels, few in number and small and spongy, were
nevertheless still edible.
--
John Savage (newsgroup email invalid; keep news replies in newsgroup)

[Richard Wright]

>
>Many thanks to those who replied. Next year in late January I'll be
>prepared for a feast!

In Sydney you may have to wait until March most years. They fell
particularly early this year, presumably because of the drought.