To some even the thought of eating a boiled peanut is repulsing. To others boiled peanuts are a delicacy. A lot of the attitude and opinion surrounding boiled peanuts relates to geography. Peanuts, of course, are primarily grown in the southern states. Consequently, access to green peanuts in the South is more of an expectation than a novelty. Because peanuts are best when boiled green, it is understandable that southerners more commonly utilize this method of preparation. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it though! Boiled peanuts are a nutritious and wonderful snack. Some might even consider them a food staple. A lot of the difference in attitude regarding boiled peanuts boils down to (pardon the pun) geography and the cultural mores that go along with that geography.
Most northerners simply haven’t traditionally had the familiarity with the peanut that comes with growing it as a common food crop. I can remember my mother’s first experience growing peanuts in southern Illinois. One of her brothers had given her the seed peanuts because he knew she could make practically anything grow. On a subsequent visit, he asked her how the peanuts were doing. She took him out to her garden complaining all the way that the peanuts were blooming their hearts out but they weren’t making peanuts.
Imagine my mother’s surprise when her brother, a brother known to be an incorrigible prankster, reached down and pulled one of her carefully tended peanut plants straight up out of the ground roots and all! That incident became a family joke that has been handed down now not only to my child but to her children and to all the cousins and other relatives. As my mother learned, peanuts grow underground!
Even though my family is actually southern since most of us were actually born and grew up on the other side of the Ohio River in western Kentucky, I too would eventually find out that I had a lot to learn about peanuts. My learning experience came when I eventually tied the knot with a Georgian whose family not only grew peanuts but loved them boiled, baked, parched, roasted, dried and even fried! These people definitely know peanuts and they know them because of that first-hand familiarity you get when you take a food item straight from the garden rather than buy it on the grocery store shelf.
You might be wondering by now just what does a boiled peanut taste like. Well, let me put it this way, boiled peanuts are among the few things you can definitely not say tastes like chicken! Boiled peanuts taste a lot like cooked peas. Now we’re not talking the green English peas that most northerners regard as the only member of the pea group. Nope, we’re talking crowder peas, field peas, cowpeas, blackeye peas and any one of the many other peas that southerners commonly include in their diet. Boiled peanuts are, after all, a legume just as the more common peas are. Despite that fact though, boiled peanuts have a very distinct flavor all of their own.
Boiled peanuts are a snack food as opposed to a main dish on the dinner table (or should I say supper table?). They are prepared in the shell and provide a degree of satisfaction in the shelling process as well as in the eating process. You can eat boiled peanuts properly by cracking them between your fingers to extract the peanuts or you can eat them more informally by holding the peanut in your fingers and splitting open the shell between your incisors and kind of sucking out the peanuts and the salty liquid that is inside then tossing the shell into the closest trash can. The informal method is by far the most satisfying!
Cooking boiled peanuts is simple. You simply place the peanuts in a large pot, cover them with water, and add salt to taste. Three pounds of peanuts might take a cup of salt. You can modify the salt of course according to your own dietary preference. Place the pot of peanuts and saltwater on the stove, bring the water up to a boil, then turn down the heat to the lowest point possible while still maintaining the boil. Then you just cook until tender.
I like to start snagging peanuts from the boiling water just after I first smell them cooking. My husband, however, likes them more fully cooked so we leave the pot on until they are more thoroughly done. It usually takes between an hour and an hour and a half to cook them to his taste. However long you cook them, make sure you thoroughly drain the water off when you are finished cooking. Otherwise, as they cool, they will suck in way too much saltwater and be a mess to eat.
So, are you ready to try out one of the most underrated snacks of all time? Don’t let geography dissuade you! If you don’t have access to green peanuts, already-boiled peanuts are being offered more and more commonly even in stores in the North. You can find them in re-sealable sacks near the produce section or in cans in the can goods section. One brand name is Peanut Patch. Come on, try them out! You’ll be in for a pleasant surprise.
