· Believed to be the oldest tree food known to man, walnuts date backto about 7()00 B.C., in Persia. The Franciscan missionaries brought walnutsto the West from Spain or Mexico, but the first commercial planting wasin California in 1867. Today, walnuts are grown throughout the Central Valleyfrom Redding to Bakersfield. California produces 98 percent of the totalU.S. crop and a third of the world's commercial crop.
·Walnuts are prized for their versatility. Sprinkle them over pastawith gorgonzola sauce, toss warm roasted walnuts into a spinach salad, oruse the nuts in a wide variety of baked goods.
· Walnuts have 182 calories and 18 grams fat per ounce-89 percent ofcalories from fat.
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