Filberts vs Hazelnuts, what are they called where you live and why?

[cqaigy2]

They call them filberts here, but i've wondered why not hazelnuts. I think i found out why, but am interested in what others have to say. Have you picked them, how do you process them. I love the flavour of fresh filberts.

 

[ponytug]

Hazelnuts here. A neighbor has a big grove. I heard a rumor that he was trying to grow them for truffles, but we get less than a third of the rainfall normally required...

 

[oldnslo]

Hazelnuts , chipmunks, squirrels, and Blue Jays harvest them. Never tried picking and shelling them myself.

 

[MossRoad]

I call them Filberts because my mom called then Filberts, and I like saying Filbert.

Filbert
Filbert
Filbert

But the two bushes I bought were called hazelnuts. The kids have never heard of anything but hazelnuts (Nutella, hazelnut spread, ect). So I call them Filberts (the bushes, not the kids).

Our bushes produce a lot, but they are small compared to what you get at the store, so I let the squirrels eat them.

 

[cqaigy2]

I've only picked a few from the wild ones that grow around my house, mostly the Jays pick them. I have gathered off the ground at some groves. First time i really didn't know what i was doing and picked up a bunch of empty shells, but with a little experience you can tell if there's something inside, maybe even a filbert.

So i asked a nursery person down in Oregon why filberts here and not hazelnuts. That started a discussion between the other people standing nearby and people working at the nursery. All kinds of theories were brought up, but the one that made the most sense to me was as follows. Back when none native people started to settle the area, a lot of them came from France or French decedents, and they callem Filberts. But then i looked up what the French word for filbert was and found aveline. Some sources shows that hazelnuts and filberts are actually different plants, but other sources says not so.

 

[kenmbz]

Hazelnuts here east coast, only one I have is an ornamental, so fruitless.
Interesting story, I see them as hazelnuts when wandering through europe too.

Another possible answer:

Why Are Hazelnuts Called Filberts or Cobnuts?

Hazelnuts are also known as filberts or cobnuts. The stories behind these other names may come as a surprise.

www.thespruceeats.com

Not something I really thought about until this thread

 

[ponytug]

My British friends all call them filberts; I never questioned that it was just British English. The usage of filbert goes back at least to the 1300s.
Personally, I think the attribution to St. Philbert is apocryphal, as the climate is so different south to north, but what do I know?

All the best,

Peter

 

[MossRoad]

Also, they hurt like heck if shot by a slingshot.

 

[RalphVa]

They call them filberts here, but i've wondered why not hazelnuts. I think i found out why, but am interested in what others have to say. Have you picked them, how do you process them. I love the flavour of fresh filberts.

Think hazelnuts. Been trying to get a 2nd one for years. Planted 2 but one died. Finally, saw one growing another place on our property and moved part of it to near the older tree. Still not big enough to get nuts.

Same problem with paw paw, but I have 3 now growing up near the house and a 2nd one to pollinate the older one near where the hazelnut is.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

All filberts are hazelnuts, but not all hazelnuts are filberts. A filbert strain of hazelnut yields more and larger nuts. Like Kleenex or Thermos, they became a generic term for any hazelnut.