Georgia peanuts: How a lowly legume became a culinary staple

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When one thinks of Georgia's food culture, items such as peaches, pecans and barbecue come to mind.

Peanuts should be on that as well, experts suggest. 

Georgia grows more than half the peanuts in the United States — and these little legumes are a key part of the state's economy, said Don Koehler, executive director of the Georgia Peanut Commission. 

"Peanuts are not only good to eat. They're good for you," said Koehler, adding that consuming peanuts has been shown to prevent heart disease. 

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"To have a super food that we grow here in Georgia, it really is kind of exciting," he said. 

Peanuts, explained Koehler, are not native to Georgia, and have a rather unusual story of how they wound up in the state.

Peanuts, said Don Koehler, are a "superfood" grown right in Georgia.  (iStock)

Native to South America, peanuts played an important role in Indigenous cultures there, said Koehler, and were even featured on pottery and used in spiritual rituals.

When European explorers made their way to South America, they became enamored with peanuts, and took the plants with them on their travels back to Europe and onward to Africa. 

In Africa, peanuts quickly became very popular, and remain staples of West African cuisine to this day. 

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In the 18th century, slaves from West Africa brought peanuts with them across the Atlantic Ocean, in what Koheler called a "dark part of our history." 

"The slaves brought peanuts because they were used to eating them," he said. "So they brought them over here." 

Before he was elected president of the United States, Jimmy Carter was a peanut farmer in Georgia.  (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Georgia's climate would turn out to be ideal for peanut growth, and peanuts are now the state's "official state crop." Today, the state grows about 52% of the peanuts in the United States, nearly 1.5 million tons. 

There are about 4,000 peanut farmers in Georgia, with the most famous being former President Jimmy Carter. 

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The state's passion for peanuts can be found in the creative dishes served throughout Augusta, Georgia – home of singer James Brown and the Masters Tournament. 

Several restaurants in the area serve peanut butter pies, but one in particular has become somewhat of an iconic dish. 

Georgia produces more than 50% of the peanuts in the United States.  (Dustin Chambers/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The French Market Grille serves a frozen peanut butter pie that is so good, an Atlanta-based food blogger said that her last meal would simply be an entire pie. 

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The pie is made in-house from scratch, said the French Market Grille's website, and is a "decadent delight." 

Augusta's Whiskey Bar Kitchen has a more unusual use for peanut butter – as a burger topping. 

As for Koehler? 

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His favorite peanut product is a little less complex than a dessert or savory treat: He prefers extra-crunchy peanut butter. 

"I have that almost every day of my life," he told Fox News Digital. 

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