Happy Halloween Water Caltrop!
If you are looking for something super creepy and original for a Halloween Party or even for a Best Fest, look no further!
These are water caltrop aka bat nut, buffalo nut, devil nut, mustache nut.
Don’t they look like they were created in a mold and man-made? Mother Nature is full of surprises and copycats!
They are related to the water chestnut and grow on aquatic plants.
The pods turn black when they are dry and have hard leathery cases. About 2 Inside is a large white seed that is edible. The pods need to be cooked first and can be boiled or roasted. After they are boiled, they look the same as when they are raw.
The flesh tastes like cassava or a sweet white potato but the flesh is still firm and nut-like.
The Bat Nut
Once you create a crack in the outer pod with a knife, it’s easy to grab it by the horns (or wings) and then snap it in half.
I could see people sitting around and cracking these open together as a fun snack, comparing the shapes and designs on each pod.
I created a video on my phone and tried to edit in iMovie but my computer doesn’t have enough memory to save the file! When I figure out some software on my phone, I’ll upload the entire video I made to YouTube!
In the meantime, check out this little snippet on Instagram!