What are cobnuts also known as?

Hazelnuts may be filberts in Europe, but across the pond, they're often described as cobnuts or plain hazels. Although some experts say cobnuts are a different variety of hazelnut, any distinctions in type are hard to see once the nuts are shelled. They are just too difficult to tell apart with the naked eye alone.

Catholicism is thought to be responsible for the fact that hazelnuts are widely known as filberts. That's because the feast day, or celebration, for France's St. Philbert is held on Aug. 20. This happens to be the same time that hazelnuts are ready to be harvested. Because of that coincidence, in Europe, where hazelnuts are widely eaten, the nuts are known as filberts.

On the other hand, some historians believe the term filbert derives from the German vollbart so Cobnut . The word means "full beard," which the husked shell of the hazelnut resembles. Although the terms filbert and hazelnut are used interchangeably, filbert typically refers to commercially cultivated crops of hazelnuts.

In Europe, France, Spain, and Italy are the epicenters of hazelnut production, but in the U.S., Oregon has that distinction. That state reportedly grows 98 percent of hazelnuts cultivated in America. By far, most hazelnuts are grown in Europe and the Middle East, specifically Turkey.