Macadamia Story

It is believed that long before Australia was mapped by European explorers, Aboriginal people would congregate on the eastern slopes of Australia's Great Dividing Range to feed on the seed of two evergreen trees. One of these nuts was called gyndl or jindilli, which was later corrupted to kindal kindal by early Europeans, while in the southern range of the tree it was known as boombera. We now know it as the Macadamia.

There were at least twelve aboriginal tribes in the region where the trees grew and they were used as an item of trade with other tribes. With the arrival of white settlers nuts were bartered, often with native honey, for rum and tobacco.

The fact that the Macadamia nut had its origins in Australia is not widely known. Our "Australian Bush Nut" was first discovered by Allan Cunningham in 1828.

In the 1850's these trees were noticed by a British botanist Ferdinand Von Mueller and Walter Hill, the Director of the Botanical Gardens of Brisbane, Australia . The two men were struck with the majestic beauty of the specimens found growing in the rain forests of Queensland. A distinction was made between Macadamia integrifolia (smooth shelled) and Macadamia tetraphylla (rough shelled) which also produces a nut that is edible, although not as good for roasting as Macadamia integrifolia. The genus Macadamia was named after a prominent scientist of that time, Dr John McAdam.

It wasn't until the late 1880's that serious cultivation of these evergreen trees began.

The early 1900's marked the beginning of an exciting new industry, when a group of American horticulturists transported some macadamia seeds to Hawaii and began growing and gafting selections of these nuts to develop today's agricultural success story.

It wasn't until the 1960's that Australians realized the potential of this indigenous tree nut and began local cultivation. Trees were planted on the rolling hills of north eastern New South Wales and south eastern Queensland where over one third of the world's production is now grown. Australian macadamias have developed a world-wide reputation for the finest quality, flavour and texture.

The high oil content of these nuts was a coveted addition to the indigenous diet. However, they were difficult to harvest in great quantities so probably were not a major staple food. The fallen nuts were collected in dilly bags and taken to feasting grounds. Some coastal aboriginal middens contain large quantities of bush nut shells along with sea shells, often 15 - 20kms from the nearest trees.

Nuts were eaten raw or roasted in hot coals. Many processing stones have been found in eastern rainforests, consisting of a large stone with a delicate incision for holding the nuts and sometimes a smaller, flat stone sits on top which is then struck by a larger hammer stone.

Modern technology has not invented a better hand nutcracker than this. The more bitter species, particularly in north Queensland, were ground into a paste and washed in running water to make them edible.