It’s almost time for the roadside stands to open and include the traditional offer of boiled peanuts. It’s a southern thing! The raw nuts are boiled in the shell in salty water for several hours, sometimes over an outdoor fire. They must be green, which means they’re raw, not the actual color green. The fresh nuts are usually available from May through November.
The peanut was an important source of protein during the Civil War, and legend holds that the salty boiling helped kill bacteria and preserve the food, which could be carried for days in the Confederate soldiers’ packs. Today, we wouldn’t want to carry the boiled peanuts around too long because they are tastiest when eaten fresh and warm. They can be refrigerated, frozen or canned, but they’re never as good as they are at a roadside stand along one of our rural or coastal routes.
You will love them … or maybe hate them. There’s no middle ground with a bag of boiled peanuts. Watch for the fresh crop to be ready soon and let us know what you think!