The new nut on the block: How more Indian chefs are experimenting with Macadamia

The Indian pantry has always been more cosmopolitan than we give it credit for Nuts are a good example of this Almonds cashews and pistachios found their way into royal kitchens festive foods and then everyday cookingMacadamia a premium variety known for its rich flavour and creamy texture is still very much the newcomer imported relatively expensive and more likely to appear as an occasional indulgence than an everyday pantry staple This could change if it is found in flavoured snacking options and if chefs can find innovative ways to incorporate it into menusBen BaldwinIn its fourth edition the Australian Macadamia Festival has returned to Mumbai with some interesting additions Till October 6 participating venues will explore Australian Macadamias in everything from appetisers and sandwiches to cakes pies ice creams and beverages At Hakkasan they feature in dim sum and seafood while TwentySeven BakeHouse uses them in cookies and pies La Panthera brings them into Mediterraneaninspired dishes while Mag St Bread Co explores tarts cakes and viennoiserie At SAZ American Brasserie they move across croquettes mains and desserts from savoury to sweet Indu Ice Cream serves Brown Butter Australian Macadamia with fudgy brownie bits while Igloo Craft Beers creates a special Australian Macadamia beer At Torii by Gauri Khan the Five Expressions of Macadamia Nuts menu spans scallop tiradito vegetable dumplings a robata grill platter ginger and lotus seabass and macadamia millefeuilleldquoThere is a very diverse and sophisticated food culture in Indiardquo says Ben Baldwin CEO of the Australian Macadamia Society ldquoWhat makes Mumbai such a compelling food city is its openness to new ingredients and ideas combined with a deep appreciation for quality and creativity We work with chefs food producers and researchers to understand what people actually want to do with the nut to codesign applications That has led to unexpected combinations and enormous possibilities We are looking at everything from global dishes and baking to traditional Indian recipes Butter chicken with macadamia for instance is a fascinating example It is not just about replacing one nut with another Taste texture and mouthfeel all come into play to give a dish that feels entirely its ownrdquo he addsPiciStockBeyond the plateThe bigger question is whether a nut still perceived as premium can move beyond restaurants and speciality retail and become part of everyday consumption That is where the Indian market becomes a more demanding testing ground Provenance may helpMacadamias are native to Australia where they evolved in subtropical rainforest environments Today the industry spans more than 15 million trees and 47659 hectares and the 2026 crop forecast has been revised to 56888 tonnes inshell at 35 per cent moisture ldquoProvenance is becoming increasingly important We are seeing younger generations actively looking for native ingredients and wanting to understand where their food comes fromrdquo says BaldwinIndiarsquos gifting industry could offer another boost With an already strong culture of gifting nuts during the festive season a shift away from the familiar boxes of almonds and cashews to a premium nut such as macadamia is an opportunity to tell a more interesting story The industry is also betting on quality as a differentiator ldquoSome varieties have been bred primarily around supplychain requirements such as durability and the ability to travel globally Our breeding programmes take a different approach We look closely at the consumer experience flavour texture and the overall eating qualityrdquo he addsAround 70 to 80 per cent of Australian macadamias are exported globally ldquoWe donrsquot send one quality overseas and keep another for Australia The product available in India is the same quality that consumers would experience in Australiardquo explains BaldwinFinding a reason to stayOn September 28 the Australian Macadamia Society will bring chefs RampD professionals and FMCG purchasing heads together to discuss the nutrsquos commercial potential in India Itrsquos a given that macadamia will need to carve out its own space and the Festival is a test of whether it can The culinary possibilities are already evident The harder task is making an Australian native nut relevant to an Indian market that already has plenty of reasons to reach for another oneBrown butter and macadamia nut cookie at TwentySeven BakehouseFrom Bauple to the worldLong before macadamia became a premium nut on menus around the world it was a bush food of eastern Australia The indigenous communities in Queensland and northern New South Wales gathered and ate the nuts for generation It was also called bauple nut after Mount Bauple one of its native habitats In 1857 the tree was named Macadamia after ScotishAustralian scientist John Macadam There are four native species in Australia and is now grown along the countryrsquos subtropical eastern coast but the nut has travelled far beyond its rainforest home to Kenya and Hawai where it is commercially grownBrookie gone nuts at SAZ American BrasserieIndian or not thinspWalnut The Indian walnut juglans regia is native to the Himalayan region Kashmir and adjoining areas thinspAlmond Although Kashmir has cultivated it for centuries it is not indigenous to India but came in through trade routes from Central and Southwest Asia where it is a native nut thinspPistachio Not indigenous to India this nut travelled from Central and Western Asia through trade routes thinspCashew Not indigenous to India the Portuguese brought it to India in the 16th century to the coasts and has since remained integral to the local cuisine hereas well thinspHazelnuts Fruit of the hazel tree it comes mostly from Turkey which handles 70 per cent of the worldrsquos demand and Italy