Most seeds come from fruit that naturally free themselves from the shell, but this is not the case in nuts such as hazelnuts, chestnuts, and acorns, which have hard shell walls and originate from a compound ovary. The general and original usage of the term is less restrictive, and many nuts (in the culinary sense), such as almonds, pistachios, and Brazil nuts, are not nuts in a botanical sense. Common usage of the term often refers to any hard-walled, edible kernel as a nut. Nuts are an energy-dense and nutrient-rich food source.

Botanically, a nut is a fruit with a woody pericarp developing from a syncarpous gynoecium. True nuts include, for example, chestnut, hazelnut and filbert. Culinarily, the term 'nut' is used much more widely, and includes examples of drupes (such as pecans and almonds) or seeds (such as pine nuts and peanuts).

Also widely known as nuts are dry drupes, which include pecans, almonds, macadamia (Macadamia integrifolia), candlenut (Aleurites moluccanus) and the water caltrop (Trapa bicornis). A drupe is an indehiscent fruit that has an outer fleshy part consisting of the exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh, which surround a single pit or stone, the endocarp with a seed (kernel) inside. In a dry drupe, the outer parts dry up and the remaining husk is part of the ovary wall or pericarp, and the hard inner wall surrounding the seed represents the inner part of the pericarp.

Walnuts and hickories (Juglandaceae) have fruit that are difficult to classify. They are considered to be nuts under some definitions but are also referred to as drupaceous nuts.

In common use, a "tree nut" is, as the name implies, any nut coming from a tree. This most often comes up regarding food allergies; a person may be allergic specifically to peanuts (which are not tree nuts but legumes), whereas others may be allergic to the wider range of nuts that grow on trees.

The sweet potato arrived in Europe with the Columbian exchange. It is recorded, for example, in Elinor Fettiplace's Receipt Book, compiled in England in 1604.

Nuts are eaten by humans and wildlife. Because nuts generally have a high oil content, they are a significant energy source. Many seeds are edible by humans and used in cooking, eaten raw, sprouted, or roasted as a snack food, ground to make nut butters, or pressed for oil that is used in cooking and cosmetics.

Nuts used for food are a common source of food allergens. Reactions can range from mild symptoms to severe ones, a condition known as anaphylaxis, which can be life-threatening. The reaction is due to the release of histamine by the body in response to an allergen in the nuts, causing skin and other possible reactions. Many experts suggest that a person with an allergy to peanuts should avoid eating tree nuts, and vice versa.

The nuts linked to from this page are: acorn; almond; beech nuts; betel nut; brazil nut; bush mango; filbert; ginkgo nut; kola nut; candlenut; cashew; chestnut; coconut; hazelnut; macadamia; ogbono; palm nut; peanut; pecan; pine nut; pistachio; walnut.

The alphabetical list of all the nut-based recipes on this site follows, (limited to 100 recipes per page). There are 3652 recipes in total:

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Moroccan Rice Pudding      Origin: Morocco	Mulled Wine Cheesecake II      Origin: Britain	Nèkango Karako (Home-made Peanut Paste)      Origin: Central African Republic
Moroccan Spiced Olives      Origin: Morocco	Mulled Wine Yule Stump Cake      Origin: Britain	Naatukodi Pulusu (Country Chicken Sour Curry)      Origin: India
Morree (Mulberries)      Origin: England	Mulled Winter Fruit Crumble      Origin: Britain	Nachinyonaya Forel (Stuffed Trout)      Origin: Georgia
Mortarolo      Origin: Italy	Mulligatawny Soup      Origin: Anglo-Indian	Nadan Kozhi Curry      Origin: India
Mortis (Chicken Paté)      Origin: Britain	Mulligatawny Soup      Origin: Britain	Naeamia bel Dakwa      Origin: Sudan
Mortrews Blank (Meat in White Sauce)      Origin: England	Multi-grain Mix      Origin: American	Nali Sauce (Piri-piri Sauce)      Origin: Malawi
Mortrews of Fysche (Mortar-paste of Fish)      Origin: England	Mumu      Origin: Papua New Guinea	Namibischer Bananenkuchen (Namibian Banana Cake)      Origin: Namibia
Mother's Day Simnel Cupcakes      Origin: British	Murgh Makhani (Butter Chicken)      Origin: India	Nan Mburu      Origin: Gambia
Mother-in-law Masala      Origin: South Africa	Musakhan (Chicken with Sumac and Caramelized Onions)      Origin: Syria	Nandji      Origin: Mali
Mousse à la noix de coco et coulis de mangue (Coconut Mousse and Mango Coulis)      Origin: Senegal	Musakhan (Chicken with Sumac and Caramelized Onions)      Origin: Jordan	Nandji de Boeuf (Nandji of Beef)      Origin: Cote dIvoire
Mouton à l'Arachide (Lamb with Peanuts)      Origin: Benin	Musakhan (Chicken with Sumac and Caramelized Onions)      Origin: Lebanon	Nanē Pia (Niuean Porridge)      Origin: Niue
Moyo de Poulet Fume (Moyo of Smoked Chicken)      Origin: Benin	Musakhan (Chicken with Sumac and Caramelized Onions)      Origin: Palestine	Naples Bisket      Origin: Britain
Mozambique Peri-Peri      Origin: Mozambique	Mushroom and Lesser Celandine Stroganoff      Origin: Fusion	Nasi Goreng Istimewa (Fried Rice Breakfast)      Origin: Indonesia
Mpotompoto (Ghanaian Yam Porridge)      Origin: Ghana	Mushroom Bhaji      Origin: Britain	Nasi Kuning (Yellow Rice)      Origin: Indonesia
Mrs Beeton Herodotus Pudding      Origin: Britain	Mushroom Curry      Origin: Britain	Nasi Lemak      Origin: Malaysia
Mrs Black's Plum Pudding      Origin: Scotland	Mushroom Fricassee      Origin: American	Nasi Lemak      Origin: Cocos Islands
Mshakiki (Comorian Kebabs)      Origin: Comoros	Mushroom Masala      Origin: India	Nasi Lemak      Origin: Singapore
Mtedza (Peanut Puffs)      Origin: Malawi	Mushroom Stroganoff      Origin: Britain	Nasi Lemak      Origin: Christmas Island
Mtedza Puffs      Origin: Malawi	Musk Apple Cake      Origin: Jewish	Nasturtium Leaf Pesto      Origin: Britain
Muamba de Galinha (Chicken Muamba)      Origin: Angola	Mussel Hodi      Origin: Sri Lanka	Nasturtiums with Cream Cheese and Almond Filling      Origin: Britain
Muamba Nsusu (Congo Chicken Soup)      Origin: Congo	Mustard Beef with Potato Gratin      Origin: Australia	Nata de Coco (Coconut Water Gel)      Origin: Philippines
Mudda (Green Banana Dumplings)      Origin: Norfolk Island	Mustard Pork Loin Chops with Butternut Squash Roast      Origin: Britain	Native Jerk Seasoning      Origin: Jamaica
Mudda (Green Banana Dumplings)      Origin: Pitcairn Islands	Muttai Kulambu (Tamil Nadu Egg Curry)      Origin: India	Natural Red Tomato Chutney      Origin: British
Mughlai Beef Biriani      Origin: India	Mutton and Coconut Cream Curry      Origin: Fusion	Ndizi na Nyama (Plantains with Meat)      Origin: East Africa
Mughlai Lamb Biriani      Origin: India	Mutton Broth      Origin: Britain	Ndolé à la Viande (Bitterleaf with Meat)      Origin: Cameroon
Muhammara (Hot Pepper Dip)      Origin: Syria	Mutton Kulambu (Pondicherry Mutton Curry)      Origin: India	Ndomba de Porc (Pork Cooked in Banana Leaves)      Origin: Cameroon
Muhammara (Syrian Sweet Pepper Spread)      Origin: Syria	Mutton Masala      Origin: Sri Lanka	Ndrovi ya Nazi (Banana with Coconut Milk)      Origin: Comoros
Muhammara (Hot Pepper Dip)      Origin: Lebanon	Mutton Rendang      Origin: Indonesia	Nepalese Meat Masala      Origin: Nepal
Muhogo ya andzi Na nyama (Cassava with Meat)      Origin: Mayotte	Mutton Rissole      Origin: British	Nettle and Spinach Cake      Origin: Britain
Mukbasa (Yemeni-style Roast Fish)      Origin: Djibouti	My Lady of Portlandàs Mince Pyes      Origin: Britain	Nettle Gnudi      Origin: Britain
Muland Saangi Ambat (Radish Pod Gravy)      Origin: India	N'Dizi na Kasted (Banana Custard)      Origin: Tanzania	Nettle Greens and Peanut Stew      Origin: African Fusion
Mullangi Sambar (White Radish Sambar)      Origin: India	N'dolé (Bitterleaf Stew)      Origin: Cameroon	Nettle Leaf Greens      Origin: Britain
Mulled Mead      Origin: Roman	N'dolé avec Poisson (Fish and Bitterleaf Stew)      Origin: Gabon
Mulled Wine Cheesecake      Origin: Britain	N'dolé avec Poulet (Chicken N'Dolé)      Origin: Cameroon

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