Boiled peanuts

Boiled peanuts are popular in some places where peanuts are common. Fully mature peanuts do not make good quality boiled peanuts; rather, raw or green ones are used. Raw denotes peanuts in a semi-mature state, having achieved full size but not being fully dried, as would be needed for roasting or peanut butter use. Green denotes freshly harvested and undried peanuts that must be refrigerated. After boiling in salt water they take on a strong salty taste, becoming softer with prolonged cooking, and somewhat resembling a pea or bean, to which they are related because they are legumes and a nut only in the culinary sense. The most flavorful peanuts for boiling are the Valencia type. These are preferred in the United States, being grown in gardens and small patches throughout the South. Green Virginia-type peanuts are also sometimes used. Boiled peanuts are widely consumed and commercially available in an area of the Southern United States from North Carolina, south to central Florida, as far north as Ohio, and west to Mississippi. The peanuts are sold in the hull and boiled with only salt or with a piquant spice mixture such as Old Bay or Zatarain's. The latter are often called "Cajun boiled peanuts" in many recipes.

Source: Wikipedia