Hazelnuts

Hazelnuts are, well, nuts that grow on hazel bushes. In Europe, people like to put it in chocolate (unlike Americans, who seem to prefer peanuts). Turkey grows most (about 70%) of the world production. In Turkey, the best quality nuts are grown in the Giresun province. In Giresun, the best quality nuts are grown in the Tirebolu subprovince (ilçe), In Tirebolu, the best quality nuts are grown in the Karakaya region consisting of five-six villages, including Belen Köyü.

This is how hazelnuts look on the bush, with green outer shell:

The clusters may contain anywhere from one to twenty or more nuts (average four-five).

Here is how we pick them.