By Dylan Stuntz, American Forests

As you consider the what you’ll include in your holiday meal, we’re sharing some history and fun facts about the trees behind your favorite foods. For this Thanksgiving Treet, we’re looking at a classic holiday dessert, chocolate pecan pie, and learning about the pecan tree!

Credit: Stu Spivack

The pecan tree (Carya illinoinensis) is a species of tree native to Mexico and the southern U.S. The domestication of the pecan began relatively recently, compared to many other cultivated crops. As the species flourished in its native range for thousands of years, nuts would just be picked off wild trees. Early Franciscan missionaries started cultivating orchards in the 1600s, and even Thomas Jefferson kept trees on his plantation. However, active widespread domestication of the pecan did not begin in earnest until the mid-1800s, when budding and grafting of plants began across the country.

The pecan is a deciduous tree, growing between 70 and 100 feet tall. The leaves are dark green, tapered and alternate along the branch, and the tree flowers in the spring. Pecans are usually located along stream banks, river plains and other well-watered soils, and in an ideal climate are able to live up to 300 years or more. The seed of the tree, also called the pecan, has a buttery, creamy flavor and can be eaten raw or cooked.

The word “pecan” comes from the Algonquin word meaning “nut,” but the pecan is not a true nut. A nut is a shell or pod, with the fruit and seed of the plant contained inside. Chestnuts, acorns and hazelnuts are examples of true nuts. Pecans are technically drupes, which have the fruit on the outside and a pit inside holding the seed. Peaches and plums are drupes, along with pecans. The difference is that people eat the fruit of a peach, while the edible part of a pecan is actually the seed of the plant.

Today, Mexico and the United States produce 47 percent and 46 percent of the annual crop of pecans, respectively. However, almost 80 percent of the world’s supply is handled in the U.S. through shelling and marketing. Pecans contribute almost $517 million to the U.S. economy, through the sale of nutmeat for general consumption, as well as the sale of shells for landscape mulch and particleboard.

Chocolate Pecan Pie

Ingredients

  • 1 9-in. unbaked pie crust
  • 3 eggs
  • 2/3 cup white sugar
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 1/3 cup margarine, melted
  • 1 cup light corn syrup
  • 1 cup pecan halves
  • 1-½ cups semisweet chocolate chips

 

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. Beat eggs, sugar, salt, margarine, and syrup with hand mixer.
  3. Stir in pecans and chocolate chips.
  4. Pour mixture into pie shell.
  5. Bake until set, 40 to 50 minutes. Cool.

 

A version of this recipe was originally published by Allrecipes.