Peanut eating might well be considered a national pastime alongside watching cricket, playing dominoes, or kicking a football. Peanuts are present at every ‘big’ show, and don’t even attempt to keep those bags of salted or ital wonders out of the VIP section.

Wrapped in tight brown cone-shaped bags with a nice warm feeling, peanuts are offered at strategic spots throughout the country.

Think Ochi and you’ll see flash in front off you just by the railway crossing at Spanish Town peanut vendors selling cashew nuts.

‘Big’ show evenings aside, Friday evenings are usually when peanut vendor’s are out in abundance. The piercing sound of the whistle signals his arrival and there he waits. Patience seems to be every peanut vendors virtue, unlike the many impatient motorists trapped in cars going nowhere in a hurry. The peanut man exudes a buddhist-like calm.

Eschew all thoughts, however, of buying a single pack especially if your car is full of passengers. Some will decline the offer of a packet of peanuts until the fresh sweet aroma fills the air. It is usually at this point that the begging starts. A single peanut is never enough, oftentimes several packages are consumed before arrival at Faith’s Pen. Many will discover en route to the country or even stuck in city traffic, that there’s no better way to enjoy peanuts than to tear through the warm, soft, shells until the teeth encounter the roasted nut.

Many specialist peanut eaters on the editorial floor tell Thursday Food that the peanut vendor (when they were growing up some twenty odd years ago) was likened to the Pied Piper of Hamelin.

The whistle being the signal for the kids to start the peanut run.

A colleague of mine insists that the older vendors are by far better bakers of the peanut shell delight.

The pity is that the peanut vendor is slowly fading into the background, for with the advent of peanut packages in every pharmacy, at every gas station and stall. That fine art will perhaps soon be a distant memory, unless of course we continue to support our peanut vendors.

Peanut Trivia

St Elizabeth is the parish responsible for most of the delicious peanuts consumed in Jamaica.

Although nuts are highly nutritious some contain much fat eg

Pecan 70%

Macadamia nuts 66%

Brazil nut 65%

Walnuts 60%

Almonds 55%

Most have good protein content in the range of 10-30%

Only a few have a very high starch content (notably the Chestnut, Ginko nut and Acorn.

Peanuts are an excellent source of Vitamin E

Peanuts are packed with protein.

Peanuts provide approximately 2 grams of fibre per ounce, and have relatively high amounts of folic acid, thiamin, niacin, copper, manganese, phosphorous, magnesium, and zinc.

Peanuts are high in plant protein.

The fat content is primarily monounsaturated and polyunsaturated.

New research funded by the Peanut Institute and conducted by a team of scientists at the U.S. department of Agriculture (USDA) shows that peanuts are another rich dietary source of heart- healthy resveratrol and may help reduce the risks of heart disease and cancer.

Resveratrol’s presence in red wine has been associated with reduced cardiovascular disease and it has been credited as a factor in the “French Paradox” (despite a high fat diet, the French have a surprisingly low rate of heart disease).

Peanuts have relatively high amounts of folic acid, thiamin, niacin, copper, manganese, phosphorous, magnesium, and zinc.

Several epidemiological studies tend to show the inclusion of nuts in diets will work to decrease deaths due to cardiovascular diseases, including coronary heart disease, hypertensive heart disease, congestive heart failure, stroke, and renal failure.

A six-year survey, led by Gary Fraser, PhD, Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at Loma Linda University (California), demonstrated that participants who consumed nuts at least five times a week had only half the rate of heart attack or coronary death as those who rarely ate them. And although the benefits are greatest for frequent nut eaters, those who ate nuts even once a week had 25% fewer occurrences of heart disease than those who avoided nuts entirely.