Crunchy raw nuts with a coconut-like flavor. Brazil nuts, a holiday favorite, are the food richest in selenium, a potent antioxidant linked to low rates of cancer and heart disease. If you ate only one Brazil nut a day, you would never be deficient in selenium. Brazil nut kernels are sweet tasting and an excellent source of protein. The tough-shelled, triangular Brazil nut is the seed of a tropical evergreen tree that grows in large forests in the Amazon River basin of South America. The trees, which can reach a height of 150 feet are not cultivated, rather they are taken from the ground once they have fallen from the trees. They can be shipped only during the rainy season, when stream and river waters are navigable.
