North Carolina ranks highly as a ‘peanut paradise’

The peanut is a Southern food that tastes great and…“grows great”…in North Carolina.

 

There’s much to celebrate, as the Old North State ranks fifth in U.S. peanut production, trailing only Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Texas.

The North State Journal, a statewide newspaper based in Raleigh, reports that North Carolina is home to about 1,000 peanut farms with 113,000 acres in production.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that North Carolina’s peanut crop adds about $105 million a year to the state’s economy.

North Carolina produces about 452 million pounds of peanuts annually, according to the North Carolina State Cooperative Extension Service.

 

“With that many peanuts,” one extension agent remarked, “you could make about 4 billion peanut butter sandwiches. Hope you have enough jelly!”

 

The three leading counties for peanut production in North Carolina are Bertie, Martin and Halifax, due to the fact that peanuts grow best in sandy, loamy soils.

What many people don’t know about the peanut is that it’s actually not a “nut” and is botanically classified as a legume. Peanuts contain properties of both the bean/lentil family and tree nuts,” according to the Journal.

Pouring salted peanuts into an icy cold bottle of Coca-Cola is definitely a “Southern thing,” reports Molly Harris, a freelance journalist living in Athens, Ga.

 

“Once you have been introduced to the unusual combination and try it, it makes some sense,” Harris wrote.

 

“The combination of crunchy, salty peanuts and fizzy, sweet Coke is a pretty balanced pairing. While you may think the peanuts would turn soggy in the bubbly soda, they do not. The peanuts keep their texture, and it proves to be a delicious snack.”

It’s OK to substitute Pepsi-Cola or other sugared cola. Don’t try putting your peanuts into the diet versions, however, Harris advised. “The real sugar makes a big difference.”

The late Rick McDaniel of Asheville, N.C., noted food historian and author, always said the likely origin of the peanuts in your Coke “concoction” occurred in the 1920s, when packaged shelled peanuts “began showing up at country stores and filling stations where the familiar contour bottle of Coke was already being sold.”

 

“Working people may not have had a place to wash up…so you pour the peanuts directly in the bottle without having them touch your hands.”

 

Now, the folks at Ollie Irene, a pub in Birmingham, Ala., have reinvented the childhood treat for the cocktail crowd with the “Tallulah,” a drink made with Coca-Cola, peanut syrup and a healthy pour of Jack Daniel’s bourbon.

It was named by co-owner Chris Newsome as a boozy tribute to his great aunt Tallulah, a lifelong bourbon drinker.

 

Editors at Nerdist, a popular culture web site, offered a “public service” to its readers in 2018, by ranking the “most popular” nuts in America. “We included legumes that everyone calls nuts, because nobody wants to rank legumes,” wrote Michael Walsh.

“Think of which nut you’d miss the most if it left your life entirely. That would be the peanut.”

“Peanuts are easy to crack open, and taste good plain, roasted or flavored. They can be seamlessly combined, or constitute the entire basis of a dish,” Walsh said. “Imagine a life without peanuts.”

“Think about all of the things you’d have to give up…peanut butter and half of all candy bars,” he said.

 

“There’s a reason George Washington Carver dedicated his life to peanuts – they are one of the most versatile and tastiest foods we have.”

 

Carver was an African-American agricultural scientist who promoted alternative crops to cotton, such as peanuts and sweet potatoes.