Boiled Peanuts

You can't help but notice the signs.  "Boiled P-Nuts ahead" is written in dripping paint on the roadside sign.  If you aren't from the South, you may wonder what on earth that means.  But Southerners just know. 

Peanuts are actually legumes, not nuts at all.  But they are still a favorite "nut" for many Southerners.  Sometimes called "goober," or "goober-pea," (which comes from the African word "nguba"), the peanut is used in all kinds of recipes for appetizers, main dishes, soups, and desserts. 

The History of the Peanut

The peanut originated in Brazil and came to the U.S. from Africa, as many Southern foods have.  In the 1890's, George Washington Carver began promoting the peanut as the main crop, since cotton was being destroyed by the boll weevil

Adult Boll Weevil

Dr. John Kellogg (as in Kellogg's Corn Flakes) created peanut butter in the 1890's as a protein substitute for people with poor teeth.  It wasn't until 1921 that a mechanized process was invented for making peanut butter.  It was quickly promoted as a health food at the St. Louis Universal Exposition by concessionaire C.H. Sumner.  By 1914, even before the mechanized process was available, there were dozens of commercial brands of peanut butter on the market, however in 1923, Joseph Rosefield developed a method of preventing the oil from separating in the peanut butter.  In 1932, Skippy^® brand peanut butter was first introduced in both "churned" and crunchy varieties.  Today more than half of the American peanut crop becomes peanut butter, and the majority of all peanut butter consumed by U.S. citizens is imported.

In the early 1900's, a man by the name of Amedo (or Amedeo) Obici invented a process to automatically turn roasting peanuts - prior to his invention, peanuts needed to be turned by hand.  He began selling roasted peanuts at his fruit stand in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania in order to have an edge over the competition.   The peanuts became so popular, that Mr. Obici quit selling fruit altogether.   In 1906, his brother-in-law, Mario Peruzzi, began selling their peanuts in airtight bags as the Planters^® Nut and Chocolate Company.    Mr. Peanut, one of America's most recognized logos, was first drawn by a 14-year-old boy who won the Planters-sponsored contest to design the trademark.

Recipe for Boiled Peanuts   Bill Neal's Southern Cooking - Bill Neal 2 cups peanuts, raw and in the shell 4 cups water 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Put the peanuts, in their shells, into a saucepan, add the water and salt, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a good simmer and cook approximately 25 minutes. Time will vary depending upon the size and freshness of the peanuts. When done, the kernel should have swollen to fill the pod well and the taste of raw starch will have been dissipated. The peanut will remain slightly chewy. Serve hot still in the shell, or cold after draining.

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