One of my favorite random facts I’ve learned is that the Brazil nut is called castanha-do-pará, or Pará nut. Pará is a state in northern Brazil. In other words, the Portuguese name is more region-specific. The seed grows wild in the Amazon rainforest, and interestingly enough, its biggest producer is Bolivia.

I bought the package below at R$49.50/kilo. Making a quick estimate in my head, I calculated it to be about 25 USD. Vaguely remembering it was about 13 dollars at Whole Foods, I was flabbergasted that it would be about double the amount in Brazil, even with São Paulo being an expensive city. Then I remembered the U.S. sells by the pound while Brazil goes by the kilo. Phew.

So, doing the correct calculations, the Brazil nuts I bought come out to about 9.40 USD per pound. In comparison, they’re available on Amazon for purchase at about 11 dollars…