Butter together: Swetha Sivakumar writes on nut-based spreads

They can be added to stews, spread on toast, used to make a range of dips. Which nuts make the best butters, and what should you watch out for? Take a look.

In 1998, my best friend’s dad brought a jar of peanut butter to our college hostel. I had never seen anything like it. I took a bite and fell in love with its salty, creamy flavour.

Nutella, a hazelnut-based spread, was inspired by an ancient Italian recipe - and turned the Ferrero family into magnates of the confectionary world. (Adobe Stock)

“What’s in it?” I asked. Her dad, a jokester, claimed it was a family secret and challenged me to guess. I could only come up with peanuts and salt — which, I would later learn, is really all it takes.

Before we proceed to the marvels of the many nut butters I have discovered since, I’d like to mention that, for the purposes of this column, I will be using “nuts” in the culinary sense of the term, even though some of those mentioned below are seeds, drupes or legumes.

Back to the pastes, perhaps what intrigued me most, back then, was the difference between the spread I’d just tried for the first time, and our own peanut chutney.

The chutney blends peanuts with water, yielding a grainy texture that makes for a great condiment, but spoils more easily, because of the water in it.

The almond-based marzipan is malleable and versatile.

Making the spread involves roasting the peanuts first. This reduces their water content to as little as 1%, giving the product a longer shelf life. It also activates flavour agents and aromatic compounds. The roasted nuts are then ground, releasing the natural oils more efficiently, to produce a smooth spread made up of carbs, proteins and fibres suspended in the continuous oil phase of the released fats.

Humans have been eating delicious pastes like this one for centuries.

The almond-based marzipan was popular in the Middle East as far back as the 9th century, as noted in the Kitab al-Tabikh (Book of Recipes) recovered from Baghdad. Sesame paste aka tahini has turned up in Arabic recipes dating to the 13th century, though it is likely much, much older. (Archaeological evidence from the region suggests that some form of the paste may have existed as much as 4,000 years ago, in ancient Babylon.)

Fast-forward to the mid-1800s and hazelnuts were being blended with cacao (and sugar) in Piedmont, Italy, to create a chocolate-based spread called giandujot (after a nickname for the region). The giandujot would later inspire the creation of Nutella, in the 1960s.

The sugary Nutella became so popular that it spawned a chocolate empire and turned its creators, the Italian Ferrero family, into magnates of the confectionary world.

Tahini is blended with chickpeas to make hummus (above), and with mashed, roasted eggplant to make baba ghanoush. But really one can mix in almost anything: chopped onion, bell peppers, green chillies, spice mixes. (Adobe Stock)

Change of paste

Not all nuts are suited to spread-making. Those with a naturally high oil content, such as the pecan (65% to 75% against the peanut’s 50%), yield a spread that is runnier and a bit problematic. The oil pools on top, leaving the paste to harden below it. A good stir can help, but even at its best, it isn’t a smooth or uniform mix.

Some separation of paste and oil will occur in any nut butter. This is why some of the paste always sticks to the side of the jar.

To minimise this, manufacturers began to mix in some partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Now, amid a growing body of data discouraging the use of trans fats, the industry has switched to emulsifiers such as lecithin, monoglycerides and diglycerides.

There are, of course, all-natural nut butters available, and they are the second-best option; the best option is to simply whip out the blender and make your own.

They are, after all, an incredibly easy to make. Nut butters are reasonably healthy and very versatile. One can use them in a sandwich or a salad dressing, fold them into a dessert or smear them on a pancake or waffle.

Add honey, maple syrup and whole nuts and they can be a dessert in themselves, something like the Middle-Eastern halvah (tahini, honey, pistachios; delicious).

Nut pastes are also added to soups and stews around the world, to thicken and make them creamy. There’s a walnut soup in Mexico, a range of peanut soups in South America, and almond soups in Turkey.

And, of course, they are a fantastic base for dips. Tahini is blended with chickpeas to make hummus, and with mashed, roasted eggplant to make baba ghanoush. But really one can mix in almost anything: chopped onion, bell peppers, green chillies, spice mixes.

These spreads are a rich source of protein. Just 2 tbsp of peanut butter contains 8 gm of protein, equivalent to more than half a cup of boiled chickpeas. Make sure, of course, that your store-bought variety hasn’t skimped on the nuts and boosted the flavour and volume, instead, with sugar.

For further inspiration, turn to the seeds-to-riches tale of Danielle LiVolsi. She began blending nuts and seeds at home in an effort to help her children, who were picky eaters, gain weight. Eventually she recognised this as a gap in the market and, in 2008, founded NuttZo, which now retails in thousands of grocery stores across the US.

How’s that for nuts!

(To reach Swetha Sivakumar with questions or feedback, email upgrademyfood@gmail.com)