Australia’s gift to the world, the macadamia tree is thus far the only plant native to that continent which has been cultivated commercially on a major scale. For generations the native people of Australia gathered the nuts of the evergreen tree with the glossy green leaves many called “kindal kindal.” The trees grew in the subtropical areas of today’s Queensland, including Fraser Island, off the east coast. People there called the nuts “baphals.” They also grew in northern New South Wales. For the Aboriginal people, the nuts were a seasonal treat, not the mainstay of the diet.
A botanist named Baron Ferdinand von Mueller first labeled the tree, European-style, in 1857. He named it for his good friend, John McAdam, a young Scots doctor who had died at sea traveling from Australia to New Zealand. The Director of the Botanic Garden in Brisbane, Walter Hill, obtained some of the nuts and was stunned to find his assistant cracking and eating them. The Aboriginals had told Hill the nuts were poisonous, in a vain attempt to keep the European colonists from taking an interest in the tree. Hill planted one near the Brisbane River and then promoted the growing of macadamias during the next 20 years. In 1882 William Purvis brought seeds from Queensland to the US Territory of Hawaii. He established some seedlings on the big island, Hawaii and eventually, the notion of macadamia growing took off in the islands. Today Mauna Loa, the world’s largest grower and processer of the nuts, has about 10,000 acres under cultivation.
It’s curious that the macadamia didn’t take off in its native land, Australia, until the 1960’s when trees grafted from Hawaiian varieties were planted in Queensland and New South Wales. Ninety percent of the trees currently in production in Australia derive from these Hawaiian cultivars. Hawaii continues to lead the world in production of the nuts, with Australia right behind. Elsewhere in the world macadamias have taken substantial hold in South Africa, Kenya, Brazil, Costa Rica , Guatemala and California.
Yes, they are full of fat. But scientists are discovering that the macadamia’s percentage of monounsaturated fat, 78 percent, helps lower blood cholesterol in the body. The nuts also contain significant amounts of protein.
Macadamia nuts (Oxford Book of Food Plants)
HELP THE FOOD MUSEUM SURVIVE AND GROW! Advertise/Sponsor the food/museum web page of your choice! Reach thousands/month with your advertisement here - "foodies", scholars, and interesting people from all around the world. For details, please email The Food Museum.
