What a Filbert Is, and What Is Actually in Mr Filbert's Tins

By Emily Patrikakos, Brand Executive at The Gourmet Pantry.

A filbert is a hazelnut. The two names describe the same nut, the cultivated hazels Corylus avellana and Corylus maxima, and filbert is simply the older English word for it. That matters twice over on this site, because Mr Filbert's is a British snack brand named after the word, and only one of the six tins we range has any hazelnut in it at all.

One nut, two names, and one story we are not going to repeat

Hazels are shrubs and small trees native to Europe and western Asia, and English ended up with two words for the nuts they drop. Filbert is the older one, and it survives in horticulture, in nursery catalogues and in cookbooks written before the middle of last century. Hazelnut is the word that won everyday use. Botanically, filbert is usually pointed at Corylus maxima, the longer nut in the longer husk, but in a kitchen the distinction does no work: if a recipe asks for filberts, buy hazelnuts.

There is a popular story that ties the name to a saint's day in late summer, and we are leaving it out, because a food reference that guesses is worse than one that stops. What we can tell you is what is inside the tins on the Mr Filbert's page, because we publish the ingredient list for all six of them.

What is actually in each of the six tins

These are the ingredient lists and allergen statements we publish on each product page, with the percentages written out in words. Where a seasoning blend has its own sub-ingredients, those stay on the pack.

So the tally is one out of six. Only the Italian Herb Peanuts and Hazels tin contains the nut the brand is named after, and it is 19 per cent of the tin, sitting behind 75 per cent peanuts. The three mixed nut tins are the same base in different clothes: peanut, cashew and almond in a 58, 25, 17 split, seasoned with truffle salt, with plain sea salt, or with chipotle and honey. The other two are single nut tins.

Every tin here is a tree nut or peanut product and none of them is safe for a nut allergy. Read the allergen statement rather than the ingredient list, because the two are not always the same width: the Peanuts and Hazels tin lists only peanuts and hazelnuts in its ingredients but declares cashews and almonds in its allergen statement. The Mexican Sweet Chilli tin also contains honey, so it is not one for a vegan table. If you need more than the label gives you, call us on 1300 936 406 before you order.

Which tin does which job

The single nut tins are the ones to reach for when the nuts have to behave like an ingredient. French Rosemary Almonds chop into a rough crumb and go over a salad, a roast carrot or a soft cheese without arguing with anything. Indonesian Peppered Cashews are 94 per cent cashew with barely 1 per cent pepper on them, so they read as pepper first and then sweet, and they are the ones that empty first at a drinks table.

The mixed tins are for the board. Italian Black Truffle Mixed Nuts goes next to a hard cheese, because truffle and aged cheese pull in the same direction. Simply Sea Salt Mixed Nuts is the tin you open when somebody at the table would rather not meet chipotle. Mexican Sweet Chilli Mixed Nuts has the heat and the honey in it, and wants a cold beer more than it wants cheese. Italian Herb Peanuts & Hazels is the oregano one, and the only tin that will actually give you a hazelnut.

All six are 100g and $9.95, which is the size and price that suits a stocking, a gap in a hamper or a desk drawer rather than a bowl for twenty. For a bowl for twenty, the rest of the shelf is under snacking, and the tins turn up again across festive entertaining.

Common questions

Is a filbert the same thing as a hazelnut?

Yes. Filbert and hazelnut are two English names for the nut of the cultivated hazel, and you can swap the words in any recipe without changing what you buy. Growers do sometimes use filbert for Corylus maxima and hazelnut for Corylus avellana, but the two hybridise freely, which is why the naming never settled.

Why are they called filberts and not hazelnuts?

Both words are old and both are correct. Filbert stayed alive in the trade, in nursery lists and older cookbooks, while hazelnut is the plain descriptive name that became the default in shops. Which one you grew up with depends mostly on where you are and how old the recipe is. There is a widely repeated tale about a saint's day behind the name, and we have left it out rather than pass on something we cannot check.

Do Mr Filbert's tins all contain hazelnuts?

No, and this is the thing worth knowing before you buy one as a gift for someone who loves hazelnuts. Of the six tins we range, only Italian Herb Peanuts and Hazels contains hazelnuts, at 19 per cent. The rest are cashews, almonds, or a peanut, cashew and almond mix. The brand name is a name, not an ingredient list.

Which Mr Filbert's tin is the best one for a cheese board?

Italian Black Truffle Mixed Nuts, if there is a hard or aged cheese on the board. If the board leans soft and fresh, go the other way and use French Rosemary Almonds, where rosemary and sea salt on a plain almond leave room for the cheese to be the loudest thing on the plate. Either tin covers the thing most people forget to put out, which is something salty to break up a run of sweet.

For the Australian end of the same shelf, our guides to what else macadamias can do and cracking macadamias without ruining them take it from the other direction. Two tins and a jar make a present on their own, which is most of the logic behind the Christmas hampers, and the six tins with current pricing and stock sit on the Mr Filbert's page. Orders placed before 12pm on a weekday are dispatched the same day from our Corio, VIC warehouse, tracked with Australia Post.