Turkish Raw Hazelnuts in Shell — Black Sea Whole Hazelnuts

These are whole, unshelled hazelnuts — the kind you crack open yourself. Each nut arrives exactly as harvested: the hard brown shell intact, the kernel inside raw and untouched. The shell protects the nut from oxidation and keeps the fat and aroma sealed in until the moment you crack it.

Turkey grows roughly 70 percent of the world's hazelnut supply. The trees that produce the bulk of that harvest grow along a narrow coastal strip of the Black Sea — provinces like Ordu, Giresun, and Trabzon — where humid air, volcanic soil, and steep hillside slopes create conditions found nowhere else. The Tombul variety, meaning "round" in Turkish, is the cultivar most associated with this region. It is recognized for an intense, sweet-leaning flavor with a clean finish and an oil content of approximately 61 percent by weight in the kernel, which is what gives roasted hazelnuts their characteristic richness and their natural affinity with chocolate.

Raw and in-shell is the purest form. Nothing has been added, treated, blanched, or processed. Crack the shell, eat the kernel raw for a mild, grassy sweetness — or roast them shell-on in an oven at around 135°C for 20 to 25 minutes until the kernel inside turns a light golden cream. Roasting deepens the flavor and loosens the thin inner skin so it rubs away cleanly. From there, the uses are wide: roughly chopped for pastry, whole for praline, ground into a paste for chocolate spreads, or simply eaten warm from the shell.

In Turkish confectionery, hazelnuts are foundational — they appear in baklava, in sesame-coated sweets, in chocolate, and in dozens of regional preparations that have been made the same way for centuries. These nuts leave that same kitchen. The shell is part of what makes them feel honest: you see exactly what you are buying, and freshness is locked in until you decide to use them.

Origin: Turkey, Black Sea region
Form: Whole, raw, in-shell (unshelled — requires cracking)
Processing: None — raw, natural, no additives
Approximate kernel composition (shelled kernel per 100g): Fat ~61g · Protein ~15g · Dietary fiber ~9g · Vitamin E ~24mg
Available in: 100g · 250g · 500g · 1kg