IV: Filbert
The nutty story of Finn McCool.
Good morning. Today is quartidi, the 14th of Pluviôse, Year CCXXXI. We celebrate l'avelinier, a hazelnut by any other name, and just as sweet.
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What's the difference between a filbert and a hazelnut? Some people say filberts are more egg-shaped. Some say the European kind are filberts and the North American kind are hazelnuts. But the calendar says avelinier and noisette. While the first term very clearly refers to hazel specifically, noisette, our Fructidor companion, means "little nut" and has been applied to everything from the musk rose to a lamb chop. It means "hazelnut" now by association, but likely had a broader meaning that was applied to a different nut species in Fabre d'Eglantine's day. If anyone knows the 18th century meaning of noisette, you have six months to let me know!
There's evidence that Celtic peoples systematically gathered hazelnuts into pits and prepared them for mass consumption as early as 8,000 years ago. One particular site called Cass ny Hawin on the Isle of Man, a large spit of rock between Ireland and Great Britain with its own deep history and unique culture, indicates that hazelnuts may have been the primary diet in lean years when the population of the island exceeded the fish and crops it could provide.
