Walnut
Walnuts
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Fagales
Family:	Juglandaceae
Genus:	Juglans
Species:	J. regia
Binomial name
Juglans regia L.

A walnut is an edible seed of any tree of the genus Juglans, especially the Persian walnut, Juglans regia. Broken nutmeats of the eastern black walnut, from the tree Juglans nigra, are also commercially available in small quantities, as are foods prepared with butternut nutmeats.

Walnut seeds are high density source of nutrients, particularly proteins and essential fatty acids. Walnuts, like other tree nuts, must be processed and stored properly. Poor storage makes walnuts susceptible to insect and fungal mold infestations; the latter produces aflatoxin - a potent carcinogen. Mold infested walnut seed batch should not be screened then consumed; the entire batch should be discarded.^[1]

In certain parts of the world, walnuts are locally known as walnüsse, noix, nuéz, nuc, ceviz, akharōṭ (अखरोट), kurumi (胡桃), hétáo (核桃).

Introduction[link]

Walnut seed shell inside its green husk

Walnuts are rounded, single-seeded stone fruits of the walnut tree. The walnut fruit is enclosed in a green, leathery, fleshy husk. This husk is inedible. After harvest, the removal of the husk reveals the wrinkly walnut shell, which is in two halves. This shell is hard and encloses the kernel, which is also made up of two halves separated by a partition. The seed kernels - commonly available as shelled walnuts - are enclosed in a brown seed coat which contains antioxidants. The antioxidants protect the oil-rich seed from atmospheric oxygen so preventing rancidity.^[1]

There are two major varieties of walnuts grown for its seeds — the English walnut and the Black walnut. The English Walnut originated in Persia, and the Black walnut is native to the United States. The Black walnut is of high flavor, but due to its hard shell and poor hulling characteristics it is not grown commercially for nut production. The commercially produced walnut varieties are nearly all hybrids of the English walnut.^[2]

Production[link]

The worldwide production of walnut seeds has been increasing rapidly in recent years, with most increase coming from Asia. The world produced a total of 2.55 million metric tonnes of walnut seeds in 2010; China was the world's largest producer of walnut seeds, with a total harvest of 1.06 million metric tonnes.^[3] The other major producers of walnut seeds were (in the order of decreasing harvest): United States, Iran, Turkey, Ukraine, Mexico, Romania, India, France and Chile.

The average worldwide walnut seed yield was about 3 metric tonnes per hectare, in 2010. Among the major producers, eastern European countries have the highest yield. According to the FAO, the most productive walnut seed farms in 2010 were in Romania, with yields above 23 metric tonnes per hectare.^[4]

The United States is the world's largest exporter of walnut seeds. The Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys of California produce 99 percent of the nation’s commercial English walnut seeds.

Storage[link]

Walnuts, like all seeds, are living organs in which respiration processes dominate. Once harvested, the seeds continually consume oxygen and release carbon dioxide. The storage life of seeds depends, in part, on the rate of this respiration.

The ideal temperature for longest possible storage of walnut seeds is in the -3 to 0 ^oC and low humidity - for industrial and home storage. However, such refrigeration technologies are unavailable in developing countries where walnuts are produced in large quantities; there, walnut seeds are best stored below 25 ^oC and low humidity. Temperatures above 30 ^oC, and humidities above 70 percent can lead to rapid and high spoilage losses. Above 75 percent humidity threshold, fungal molds that release dangerous aflatoxin can form.^[1][5]

Freshly harvested raw walnut seeds with water content between 2 to 8 percent offer the best color, flavor and nutrient density.

Nutritional Value[link]

Walnut, English

Persian or English walnut, Juglans regia
Nutritional value per serving
Serving size	100 grams
Energy	2,738 kJ (654 kcal)
Carbohydrates	13.71
- Starch	0.06
- Sugars	2.61
- Lactose	0
- Dietary fiber	6.7
Fat	65.21
- saturated	6.126
- monounsaturated	8.933
- polyunsaturated	47.174
Protein	15.23
Water	4.07
Alcohol	0
Caffeine	0
Vitamin A equiv.	1 μg (0%)
Vitamin A	20 IU
- beta-carotene	12 μg (0%)
- lutein and zeaxanthin	9 μg
Thiamine (vit. B1)	0.341 mg (30%)
Riboflavin (vit. B2)	0.15 mg (13%)
Niacin (vit. B3)	1.125 mg (8%)
Pantothenic acid (B5)	0.570 mg (11%)
Vitamin B6	0.537 mg (41%)
Folate (vit. B9)	98 μg (25%)
Vitamin B12	0 μg (0%)
Vitamin C	1.3 mg (2%)
Vitamin D	0 μg (0%)
Vitamin D	0 IU (0%)
Vitamin E	0.7 mg (5%)
Vitamin K	2.7 μg (3%)
Calcium	98 mg (10%)
Iron	2.91 mg (22%)
Magnesium	158 mg (45%)
Manganese	3.414 mg (163%)
Phosphorus	346 mg (49%)
Potassium	441 mg (9%)
Sodium	2 mg (0%)
Zinc	3.09 mg (33%)
Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults. Source: USDA Nutrient Database

Walnuts are one of the several high nutrient density foods. 100 grams of walnuts contain 15.2 gram protein, 65.2 gram fat, and 6.7 gram dietary fiber. The protein in walnuts provides many essential amino acids.

While English walnut is the predominant commercially distributed nut because of the ease of its processing, its nutrient density and profile is significantly different than black walnut. The table below compares some of the major nutrients between English and Black walnuts.

Unlike most nuts that are high in monounsaturated fatty acids, walnuts are composed largely of polyunsaturated fatty acids (47.2 grams), particularly alpha-linolenic acid (18:3n - 3; 9.1 gram) and linoleic acid (18:2n - 6; 38.1 gram). The beneficial effects of this unique fatty acid profile has been a subject of many studies and discussions. Banel and Hu conclude that while walnut-enhanced diets are promising in short term studies, longer term studies are needed to ascertain better insights.^[7]

Medical benefits and claims[link]

A whole walnut kernel, with both halves unbroken.

Raw walnuts contain glyceryl triacylates of the n-3 fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid (ALA),^[8] which is not as effective in humans as long-chain n-3 fatty acids,^[9] and (mostly insoluble) antioxidants.^{[10][11][12][13][14]} Roasting reduces antioxidant quality.^[15] In 2010, a report^{[citation needed]} published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition said that walnuts and walnut oil improve reaction to stress.^[16]

A study has suggested that consumption of walnuts increases fat oxidation and reduces carbohydrate oxidation without affecting total consumption, suggesting that walnut consumption may improve the use of body fat in overweight adults.^[17] Walnuts have been shown to decrease the endothelial dysfunction associated with a high-fat meal.^[18] Aged rats fed diets containing 2% to 6% walnuts showed reversal of age-associated motor and cognitive function, but a 9% walnut diet impaired performance, suggesting a J curve.^[19]

On October 11, 2006, ScienceDaily published a report^[20] which stated "New research shows that consuming a handful of raw walnuts along with meals high in saturated fat appears to limit the ability of the harmful fat to damage arteries," and attributed the result to a 2006 article in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The lead researcher, Emilio Ros, MD, PhD, was quoted as saying "People would get the wrong message if they think that they can continue eating unhealthy fats provided they add walnuts to their meals."^[20] Funding for the study was provided by the California Walnut Commission, an industry marketing agency.^[20]

Medicinal uses[link]

Scientists are not yet certain whether walnuts act as a cancer chemopreventive agent, an effect which may be a result of the fruit's high phenolic content, antioxidant activity, and potent in vitro antiproliferative activity.^[21] Walnuts contain the ellagitannin pedunculagin^[22]

Compared to certain other nuts, such as almonds, peanuts and hazelnuts, walnuts (especially in their raw form) contain the highest total level of antioxidants, including both free antioxidants and antioxidants bound to fiber.^[11]

Meaning and etymology[link]

"Walnut" does not distinguish the tree from other species of Juglans. Other names include common Walnut in Britain; Persian walnut in South Africa^[23] and Australia;^[24] and English walnut in North America and Great Britain,^[25] New Zealand,^[26] and Australia,^[24] the latter name possibly because English sailors were prominent in Juglans regia nut distribution at one time.^[27] Alternatively, Walter Fox Allen stated in his 1912 treatise What You Need to Know About Planting, Cultivating and Harvesting this Most Delicious of Nuts:^[28] "In America, it has commonly been known as English walnut to distinguish it from our native species."

Etymologically, the word derives from the Germanic wal- and Old English wealhhnutu, literally "foreign nut", wealh meaning "foreign" (wealh is akin to the terms Welsh and Vlach; see Walha).^[29] For the walnut to be identified as a "foreign" nut by Anglo-Saxons arriving in the fifth century, native Britons must have passed to them the tradition that it had been introduced to England from Gaul and Italy.^{[original research?]}

See also[link]

• Nut (fruit)

References[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Walnuts

This article may be too long to read and navigate comfortably. Please consider splitting content into sub-articles and summarizing the key points of the subject. (September 2010)

Peter Paul "Paulie Walnuts" Gualtieri played by Tony Sirico, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. Gualtieri begins the series as a caporegime, but later becomes an underboss^[3] in the Soprano crime family.

Plot details[link]

According to The Sopranos, A Family History, Peter Paul Gualtieri, son of Gennaro Gualtieri (although Paulie's biological father was later revealed to be a World War II era soldier named "Russ"), has been a troubled street kid from the age of nine. He dropped out of school after the 9th grade^[4] and spent time in and out of juvenile correctional facilities during his early youth. When he was 17 he officially became an enforcer/bodyguard for "Johnny Boy" Soprano, Tony's father and captain in the DiMeo crime family. His mother, later discovered to be his aunt, worked at a Krispy Kreme doughnut shop during Paulie's childhood and early adulthood, but has since retired. Paulie's grandfather, who immigrated to the United States in 1910, is from Ariano Irpino, a municipality in the province of Avellino, in the Campania region of Italy.^[5] Paulie's grandfather and Tony's paternal grandparents were from the same province in Italy. Paulie spent four years in the US Army Signal Corps, where he was eventually drummed out through Section 8 (discharged because of psychiatric reasons). Although Paulie did not have a long military career, he still is proud of it, and few of the other Sopranos characters had military experience. Afterwards, he spent more time in and out of prison on various criminal charges. Eventually, he worked his way up through the DiMeo crime family, reaching the rank of Captain in 2000, shortly after Anthony "Tony" Soprano became Boss of New Jersey. In 2006, Paulie was promoted to Underboss, and Christopher Moltisanti was put in charge of Paulie's crew, which earlier was Tony's crew. Paulie got his nickname "Paulie Walnuts" due to hijacking a truck in the early 1990s which he believed to be filled with television-sets, but only contained walnuts. His surname is taken from real life DeCavalcante crime family mobster Frank Gualtieri, who served under Vincent Palermo.

Paulie is one of the most colorful characters on the show. Portrayed as a psychopath with little empathy, Paulie is highly paranoid and often refers to the supernatural things he experiences, like déjà vu, seeing the Virgin Mary, and especially his constant fear of death, either natural or probable. Paulie has displayed kindness and loyalty, and usually cracks jokes. However, despite his seniority, Paulie is one of the more eccentric of Tony's associates and is arguably one of the most ruthless, as expressed by his paranoia, mysophobia, competitiveness, miserly nature, impulsive violence and often childlike dependence on Tony's approval. In the season one finale, "I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano," Tony told his crew that he had been in therapy for almost a year, when Paulie revealed that he too had seen a therapist, from whom he "learned some coping skills." Nevertheless, Paulie is recognized throughout the series as one of the top earners and one of Tony's most trustworthy friends in his "inner circle" of Paulie, Silvio Dante, and Christopher Moltisanti.

Uniquely among his colleagues, Paulie remains single and has no children outside marriage. Unlike most of the other Mafiosi, he shuns the married life.^[6] A girlfriend of Paulie's, played by Judy Reyes, is briefly seen in episode 2.9 ("From Where to Eternity.") In a rare moment, Paulie shows compassion for her two children, putting them back to bed, sadly citing he shouldn't keep everyone up, (as he is suffering from nightmares after hearing Christopher talk about his trip to Hell after being shot). She recommends a psychic, but the session ends with Paulie calling the group a bunch of "fucking queers" after the psychic sees the spirit of Charles "Sonny" Pagano - the first guy Paulie ever whacked - together with other spirits, including Mikey Palmice, who supposedly tells the psychic to ask Paulie if the poison ivy, which he caught on his face while chasing (Palmice) to execute him, still itches.

Season 1[link]

In Season One, Paulie was a central member of Tony's crew. He executed a Colombian drug dealer and stole a large quantity of drugs and cash from his hotel room. Other tasks he did were retrieving a car, with Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero's help, for a teacher of Tony's son, torturing a hotel co-owner so the crew can own 25% of the business, and extorting a soccer coach by giving him an unwanted free TV. When suspicions that Big Pussy was an informant first surfaced, Paulie volunteered to investigate (and murder if necessary). His method of taking Pussy to a bath house and trying to get him to undress for a steambath lacked subtlety and drove Pussy into hiding. In Tony's brief and bloody war with the Corrado "Junior" Soprano crew, following Junior's attempt on Tony's life, Paulie was assigned the hit on Junior's consigliere Mikey Palmice, with assistance from Christopher Moltisanti.

Season 2[link]

In Season Two, when Tony becomes the street boss of the family, while Junior only remains boss in name, Paulie is promoted to capo of his old crew. This meant that Pussy, Christopher, and Furio Giunta amongst others, reported to him. To help set up the crew's stolen car distribution operation in the country, Paulie traveled with Tony and Christopher to Italy. Paulie also helped run the "executive game"; a high stakes poker game. In the episode From Where to Eternity, while Christopher is in the hospital slowly recovering from the bullet wounds caused by Matthew Bevilaqua and Sean Gismonte's failed assassination attempt (which was engaged in to gain recognition in the DiMeo Crime Family, particularly with Richie Aprile), when Christopher becomes clinically dead for a few minutes after his heart stops while in his comatose state, he has what may have just been a morphine induced dream in which he visits purgatory and sees his deceased father "Dickie" Moltisanti along with his deceased, former best friend Brendan Filone and Mikey Palmice who had slain Brendan earlier on in Season One. Ironically, Brendan and Mikey are good friends in the afterlife and even gamble together with Roman soldiers against Irish gangsters whom they constantly lose to according to Christopher's description of what was going on in his ephemeral visit to the realm between Heaven and Hell. Christopher informs Tony and Paulie that Mikey had a message for them: Three o' clock is what Mikey told Christopher to tell them. It is never actually revealed what this esoteric message is supposed to mean, although Paulie thinks it could have been around the time Mikey was executed. Christopher's spiritual experience, which Tony remains skeptical of and deems just a dream, spooks Paulie intensely. Paulie subsequently begins to have disturbing nightmares of being dragged to Hell. Paulie, at the recommendation of his comare (mistress), goes to see a medium but to confirm for sure the guy is real, Paulie gives a pseudo-name when he calls and makes his appointment. Much to Paulie's chagrin, the authenticity of the medium is confirmed when he begins communicating with Charles "Sonny" Pagano who was the first person Paulie ever whacked back in the 1960s and also Mikey Palmice. It becomes abundantly clear that Mikey's spirit is present when the medium informs Paulie that "he" wants to know if the poison ivy still itches (Paulie had inadvertently ran into a batch of poison ivy whilst he and Christopher chased Mikey through the woods on the day they murdered him). Paulie abruptly flips out, grabs the medium, and asks who he's been talking to, as he feels he somehow got some very clandestine information on Paulie through an actually still living person. Paulie continues to remain spooked and paranoid, as he also feels he's being haunted by Mikey Palmice accompanied by others he had murdered throughout his criminal life. However, a skeptical Tony informs him that it means nothing. Later in the season, when it was confirmed that Pussy was an FBI informant, Paulie accompanied Tony and Silvio Dante on their trip out on a boat to execute Pussy. Paulie, right before execution is carried out, tells Pussy "you were like a brother to me," at which point Tony adds, "to all of us." Paulie has clearly stated the hurtful impact Pussy's betrayal has had on him but seems to have put the experience behind him. Paulie will also be later haunted by the memory of his deceased friend.

Season 3[link]

In Season Three, Christopher often chafed under Paulie's leadership, particularly after Chris became a made man in Paulie's crew. Paulie began to demand regular payments and subjected Chris to humiliating random strip searches for wires. One night, Paulie and Patsy Parisi show up unexpectedly at Christopher's apartment and search his apartment for wires; they also confiscate some stolen shoes Christopher got for Adriana to give to their comares. While meddling through a dresser drawer, Chris observes Paulie sniffing Adriana's panties, about which he later complains to Tony who informs Paulie he must apologize. Paulie grows angry at Christopher's tattle-telling and informs him, "If you ever go to the big man [Tony] again about stuff between you and me, we're gonna have a problem my friend." The tensions between Paulie and Chris culminated in the episode "Pine Barrens." when Tony assigns Paulie and Christopher the task of collecting a payment owed to Silvio by Russian mobster named Valery. They botched the simple assignment after they got into a fight with Valery at his apartment, which Paulie had instigated. Believing Valery is dead after Paulie chokes him with a lamp, they took Valery out into the Pine Barrens to dispose of him. Valery, who was later revealed to be a former commando in the Chechen military, was still alive, and knocked both Paulie and Christopher to the ground with a shovel. He escaped and led Paulie and Christopher on a brief chase in the woods. Paulie shoots Valery in the head, however, Chris and Paulie they can not find Valery, and the two are dumbfounded as to what happened to him. Afterwards, Paulie and Chris decide to get in the car and look for him, but they lose their way. The two try continuously to communicate with Tony on the cell phone to get him to come pick them up but as they are deep in the woods, the signal is weak, and every conversation becomes incomplete by static and disconnection. Paulie and Chris feud throughout the night. They become hungry, extremely cold, tired, and frustrated with each other. Later, a heated exchange even promts Christopher to pull his gun and threaten to kill him. The next morning, they are rescued by Tony and Bobby Baccalieri, but Tony is very disappointed at Paulie's failure to complete such an easy task.

In the season finale "Army of One," Paulie grew upset after Tony ruled against him in a sit down with Ralph Cifaretto. Paulie, who had provided Ralphie with the security codes he needed to execute a $100,000 robbery, demanded 50% of the take. Ralphie countered by offering only $5,000, claiming Paulie had not done any of the leg work. Ultimately, Tony ruled that Paulie was entitled to $12,000. Paulie, who had just put his mother in the expensive "Green Grove" retirement community, was especially angered by the ruling, as he had been depending on the $50,000 to cover his expenses. Paulie also grew jealous of Ralphie's earning ability, which outpaced Paulie's because of Ralphie's labor union ties, which helped bring in the highly lucrative Newark Esplanade project, and Ralphie's consequently rising stock in Tony's eyes.

Season 4[link]

Between Seasons 3 and 4, Paulie was arrested in Youngstown, Ohio on a gun possession charge. Albeit no censure was rendered upon him, Paulie's separation from the family, incorporated with Ralphie's continued earning abilities, continued to erode his reputation and credibility in Tony's eyes. During his four months in jail, he communicated with John "Johnny Sack" Sacramoni, the Underboss of New York's Lupertazzi crime family, while under the false impression that he could earn a place with them. It was Paulie who told Johnny Sack that Ralph Cifaretto made a very insensitive joke regarding Ginny Sack's being overweight to the family which compels an infuriated Johnny to sanction a hit on Ralph that was called off at the last minute. A party was thrown at the Bada Bing when he was released, but his wavering loyalty only served to accelerate his marginalization under Tony. Paulie however, by the end of season four (in 12th episode of the season) , realized he had been duped by Johnny Sack and that Carmine Lupertazzi had never even heard of him, much less offered him a place in his New York family. Following this ascertainment, Paulie once again devoted himself fully to Tony and the Soprano family, reclaiming his status as a top earner and his place within Tony's inner circle.

Paulie has always been devoted to his mother, Marianucci "Nucci" Gualtieri, (it's disclosed in the Season Six episode The Fleshy Part of the Thigh that she is actually his aunt, however) whom he has watched over constantly. She was delighted when he first placed her at "Green Grove" (in stark contrast to Livia Soprano's reaction), and Paulie also interceded in her social problems with the other residents, going so far as to attack their relatives to ensure civility for his mother. He later learned that one of the women Nucci had trouble with, Minni Matrone, kept all her cash in her home. Paulie broke into Minn's home to try to steal this money, but she caught him in the act. When he failed to talk his way out of it, he suffocated her with a pillow. He gave the money to Tony to rejuvenate Tony's confidence in Paulie.

Season 5[link]

In Season Five, Christopher and Paulie's bad blood resurfaces when Christopher reiterates the story of the Pine Barrens incident to Vito Spatafore, Patsy Parisi, and Benny Fazio. The story starts out friendly, but after Chris embarrasses him in front of the guys, Paulie calls Chris "Tony's little favorite." This leads to Chris and Paulie almost starting a fight and later, Paulie tells the rest of the guys that it's over between the two of them. This is one of many fights in the weird relationship that Paulie and Christopher have. At comare night, Christopher refuses to pay for the dinner, forcing Paulie to pay. At Satriale's the following morning, Paulie demanded the money back, else Christopher would begin paying points. At another dinner in Atlantic City, Paulie tells everyone to choose whatever they want in order to inflate Christopher's bill. Tapped out, Chris left a small tip and argued with Paulie in the parking lot until the waiter came out to confront them. Chris responded violently and threw a brick at him. The waiter collapsed and went into convulsions. Panicked, Paulie shot the waiter and grabbed the $1200 tab before running away. Paulie later called Christopher and they agreed to "bury the hatchet," and split the $1200 bill.

Paulie also got into a dispute with Michele "Feech" La Manna over their rival landscaping companies. Paulie and Feech both resorted to violence, assaulting the other's gardeners. Paulie's competition with and antagonism of Feech served to highlight Feech's insubordinate tendencies, which caused Tony to "set up" Feech for a return to prison, making it easier for everyone.

Season 6[link]

Part I[link]

Between seasons 5 and 6, Christopher Moltisanti was made Capo of Paulie's crew, with Paulie being elevated to underboss of the family. Paulie's reputation for withholding money from his payments "up the ladder" were observed in the episode "Mayham." While Tony was in a coma, Paulie took part in a heist with associate Cary De Bartolo that led to an immense score of $1,000,000 in Colombian drug money, which was to be divided up fairly in terms of percentage amongst Tony, Paulie, and Vito. The heist resulted from a tip by Vito Spatafore. Although they had agreed to split the acquisition, Paulie later tried to withhold some of Vito's share due to an injury he had received during the heist; Silvio had to mediate as acting boss, informing them that under the circumstances Tony's share would be given to Carmela. Vito and Paulie were strongly reluctant to give Tony's share to Carmela, as they speculated Tony could potentially die at any moment but in the end accepted their obligation. When Vito's homosexuality was later revealed, Paulie was outspoken in his condemnation of homosexuality and desire to see Vito killed. When Vito returned after months in hiding, Tony considered letting his proposal of setting up business in Atlantic City with Silvio in front of Paulie; Paulie remained quiet, but left the room in apparent protest. Tony largely decided to have Vito killed because Paulie's attitude mirrored the lack of respect his underlings would feel for him letting Vito live free, although Phil Leotardo made it a moot point when he had members of his family beat Vito to death.

In the episode "The Fleshy Part of the Thigh," it was disclosed to Paulie that his dying Aunt Dotty, a nun, was actually his mother. She had become pregnant with him by a soldier identified only as "Russ" during World War II. Nucci, the woman Paulie had thought of as his mother, was really his aunt who took him in to hide the scandal. This flabbergasting news sent Paulie into an emotional tailspin, in the grips of which he severed his ties to his Nucci and did not attend Dotty's funeral. The episode ended with Paulie extorting $4,000 per month (the sum of Nucci's retirement home costs) from the son of the late owner of the Barone Sanitation company, unbeknown to Tony. Earlier, Paulie had witnessed Helen Barone meet with Tony to intercede on her son's behalf, and Tony promised that he would not be harmed; hearing this conversation led Paulie to break down emotionally. This means that Little Paulie Germani is not his nephew, but his first cousin once removed, although he still referred to Little Paulie as his nephew.

In "The Ride" Paulie was responsible for organizing the annual festivities at the Feast of St. Elzear. Paulie had taken over running the festival from Johnny Boy Soprano upon his death, and continued to try to run it for profit. In 2006, it proved a burden—the replacement priest, Father José, tried to renegotiate the payment the church would receive from the proceeds of the feast. Paulie refused to pay, and Father José retaliated by refusing to allow St. Elzear's gold hat to be used in the festival. The hat's absence was noticed and complained about by elder residents. Ride maintenance was another area where Paulie decided to save money, which resulted in a malfunction while Bobby Baccalieri's family was on a ride. Janice received minor neck injuries. Subsequently, this resulted in temporary bad blood between Paulie and Bobby which Tony ordered to be resolved.

During the festival, Paulie was tested for prostate cancer because of an elevated PSA. With his uncertain parentage, there was no way of knowing if he was genetically predisposed to the disease or not. During a restless night awaiting his biopsy results, Paulie awoke at 3 a.m. and went to the Bada Bing club. There he had a striking vision of the Virgin Mary hovering above the stage. Paulie later visited Nucci at Green Grove, and they had a silent reconciliation. In the episode "Moe N' Joe," Paulie told Tony that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. The disease was apparently caught in an early stage, and Paulie underwent a course of radiation therapy. Paulie suggested that his luck at having been diagnosed early was a reward for good deeds in his life, and Tony agreed with him. He stated in the episode "Stage 5," that he beat the cancer, after learning of Johnny Sack's death from lung cancer.

Part II[link]

In the episode, "Remember When," Paulie and Tony went to Miami to lie low when the FBI investigated the old murder case of Willie Overall, who was Tony's first murder victim. On the trip and in Miami, Paulie begins to reminisce about the old days at which point he brings up Pussy Bonpensiero and Ralph Cifaretto and how they all four went out to dinner the night Tony whacked Willie Overall. Tony begins to grow somewhat suspicious of Paulie's idiosyncracies and inclination to divulge information to other people, and Tony questioned him several times about the joke Ralph Cifaretto made about Ginny Sacrimoni's weight. Eventually, the Overall's murder was blamed on the deceased Jackie Aprile, Sr., so Tony took Paulie on a fishing trip to celebrate. Paulie had serious misgivings about going to sea with Tony due to the boat trip that was used to lure informant Pussy Bonpensiero to his death. On the boat, Paulie continues to deny informing Johnny Sack of Ralph's joke about his wife. While Tony seriously considered murdering Paulie, he ultimately decided to spare his life. Seemingly out of "gratitude," Paulie sent Carmela a $2,000 espresso machine to replace her broken one. The overly expensive gift gave the impression of Paulie to Carmela that "there is something seriously wrong with that man," but Tony defends him, saying it was people like Paulie who allowed Tony and Carmela to live the way they did.

In the episode "Walk like a Man," Paulie's nephew, Little Paulie, was beaten by Christopher over a dispute and thrown out a second-story window, suffering six broken vertebrae. A furious Paulie tore up Christopher's lawn with his car, leaving Chris's wife shaken. Later in the episode, they seemed to have made up, and drank together at the Bada Bing. However, Paulie made off-color remarks about Christopher's daughter, which caused an inebriated Chris to storm out and later kill his A.A. friend J.T. Dolan. In the episode, "Kennedy and Heidi," Paulie was left surprisingly grief-stricken when Christopher was killed, reflecting that their argument over money and respect was trivial and that he should have been nicer to him, in life. Paulie was later "upstaged" when his aunt/adopted mother Nucci's wake was under-attended because his friends were at Christopher Moltisanti's wake instead. In the final episode "Made in America," Tony asked Paulie to step in and take over the old Aprile/Cifaretto/Spatafore/Gervasi crew. At first, Paulie was hesitant because all the bad luck that had befallen previous capos of that crew but immediately changes his mind after clever persuasion.

Gualtieri crew[link]

When given control of the Soprano crew Paulie oversaw all of Tony’s old business dealing, which included amongst others, the Paving Union, extorting drug dealers, the pump and dump scams, charging HMOs for fake MRI expenditures, fencing stolen cars, a phone card scam, gambling, loan sharking and the crew’s front businesses: Barone Sanitation and Massarone Construction. Throughout the shows run other aspects of the crew's criminal activities developed or were revealed. These include control of the Joint Fitters Union, credit card hijacking (run by Benny Fazio), betting shop, cigarette smuggling (both run by Christopher), and protection racketing (run by Patsy). Legit businesses include Pussy’s old auto body shop (now run by his wife Angie), silent partner in a lawn care business, and the Feast of St. Elisario. Paulie soon became Tony's biggest earner. However, by season four Paulie's business hit a low point, especially in comparison to the Cifaretto and Barese crew. By season 5 Paulie's crew regained its position as one of the best earners in the family. When Paulie was promoted to Underboss between seasons 5 and 6, Christopher took over as Capo of his old crew.

Murders committed by Paulie[link]

The following is a list of murders committed by or referenced to on the show by Paulie. With nine murders, he holds the record of having killed the most people in the show.

*First mentioned. Happened before events of first The Sopranos episode.

Family tree[link]

• In "Commendatori," when Paulie still believes that Nucci is his mother, he mentions having two brothers and a sister. Only Gerry and Rose are mentioned by name in the series; one of the brothers is a doctor.
• In the series finale, Tony mentions a niece of Paulie's who has MS. Because it now is known that Paulie has no siblings, he is referring to one of his cousin's/"siblings'" children.

Vehicles[link]

Like many other gangsters, Paulie is partial to Cadillacs - favoring beige colored Cadillacs. During seasons 1 and 2 he drove a green 1996 Cadillac Seville SLS. He drives a beige 1998 Cadillac DeVille in season 3 (which was stolen in "Pine Barrens." ) He drives a beige Cadillac Eldorado until the end of season 5 and a beige Cadillac CTS in season 6. One of his Cadillacs plays the "Speak Softly Love" ("Love Theme from The Godfather") as the melody for the car horn ("Nobody Knows Anything").

Appearances in other media[link]

Since his appearance on The Sopranos, Tony Sirico has appeared in several TV commercials. Although it is never explicitly stated that he is "Paulie Walnuts," his performances in all of them have been consistent with that character.

• Denny's commercials:
  • In the first one, he is in a fast food restaurant trying to pay with Monopoly-like money for a breakfast meal. When the cashier says he can't accept the money because it is not real, Sirico responds, "That's not a real breakfast!" The commercial ends when Sirico throws down a wad of Monopoly money and says to the cashier, "Go buy yourself something nice."^[7]
  • In the second one, he plays a police detective standing with a victim behind a one-way mirror in a police line-up. The victim points to a suspect and says, "That's the one who sold me the fake breakfast." Sirico responds, "Calm down, chief. He can't harm you no more."^[8]
  • The third one shows Sirico tying a rope to the bumper of his Cadillac DeVille, and connecting the other end to a billboard advertising breakfast. When someone asks what he is doing he responds, "Is that the Grand Slam?" The next shot shows him driving away and pulling the billboard down.

• In addition, Sirico appeared in a Netflix commercial in 2003.

• He appears in a commercial for Aftonbladet, advertising the tabloid's being shipped with a free Sopranos DVD weekly in the 2009 period.^[9]

References[link]

External links[link]

• http://www.hbo.com/sopranos/cast/character/paulie_walnuts.shtml
• http://www.hbo.com/sopranos/fbifiles/paulie_walnuts.shtml

Gary Taubes (born April 30, 1956) is an American science writer.

He is the author of Nobel Dreams (1987), Bad Science: The Short Life and Weird Times of Cold Fusion (1993), and Good Calories, Bad Calories (2007), titled The Diet Delusion (2008) in the UK and Australia.^[1] His book Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It was released in December 2010. In December 2010 Taubes launched his own blog at GaryTaubes.com to promote the book's release and to respond to critics.

Biography[link]

Born in Rochester, New York, Taubes studied applied physics at Harvard University and aerospace engineering at Stanford University (MS, 1978). After receiving a master's degree in journalism at Columbia University in 1981, Taubes joined Discover magazine as a staff reporter in 1982.^[2] Since then he has written numerous articles for Discover, Science and other magazines. Originally focusing on physics issues, his interests have more recently turned to medicine and nutrition.

Taubes's books have all dealt with scientific controversies. Nobel Dreams takes a critical look at the politics and experimental techniques behind the Nobel Prize-winning work of physicist Carlo Rubbia. Bad Science is a chronicle of the short-lived media frenzy surrounding the Pons-Fleischmann cold fusion experiments of 1989.

His brother, Clifford Henry Taubes, is the William Petschek Professor of Mathematics at Harvard University.^[3]

Dietary science[link]

Gary Taubes on Bookbits radio.

Taubes gained prominence in the low-carb diet debate following the publication of his 2002 New York Times Magazine piece "What if It's All Been a Big Fat Lie?". The article, which questioned the efficacy and health benefits of low-fat diets, was seen as defending the Atkins diet against the medical establishment, and it became extremely controversial. Taubes himself stated: "[E]ven though I knew the article would be the most controversial article the Times Magazine ran all year, [the reaction] still shocked me."^[4] The Center for Science in the Public Interest published a rebuttal to the Times article in its November 2002 newsletter.^[5] According to Taubes: "[T]he CSPI is an advocacy group that has been pushing low-fat diets since the 1970s."^[6]

In 2007, Taubes published his book Good Calories, Bad Calories: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom on Diet, Weight Control, and Disease (published as The Diet Delusion in the UK). This book examined how a hypothesis became dogma and claimed to show how the scientific method was circumvented so a contestable hypothesis could remain unchallenged. The book uses data and studies compiled from dietary research from as early as the 19th century.^[7][8]

Taubes's hypothesis is that the medical community and the federal government of the United States of America have relied upon misinterpreted scientific data on nutrition to build the prevailing paradigm about what constitutes healthful eating. Taubes makes the case that — contrary to the conventional wisdom — it is refined carbohydrates that are responsible for heart disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer, and many other maladies of civilization. In the Epilogue to Good Calories, Bad Calories on page 454, Taubes notes ten "inescapable" conclusions, the first of which is:^[9]

Taubes includes information and studies which indicate that physical exercise increases appetite to a degree that makes it an inefficient tool in weight loss. He tracks the origins of commonly accepted dietary advice and aims to show that information that is filtered to the public often contradicts scientific evidence. On October 19, 2007 Taubes appeared on Larry King Live to discuss his book. Although Taubes has no formal training in nutrition or medicine, his book was praised as "raising interesting and valuable points" by Andrew Weil, a proponent of alternative medicine, while Mehmet Oz and trainer Jillian Michaels who appeared on the same program disagreed with Taubes on many questions.^[10]

The reviews for Good Calories, Bad Calories have varied. George Bray of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana notes in his review that the book "...has much useful information and is well worth reading." but "Obese people clearly eat more than do lean ones."^[11] Taubes, in a letter to the editor in the same journal, clarifies some of the comments made by Bray. Taubes notes, "The hypothesis favored by Bray and a half century of authorities on human obesity is that fat accumulation is fundamentally caused by positive energy balance." Taubes responds, "The alternative hypothesis begins with the fundamental observation that obesity is a disorder of excess fat accumulation and then asks the obvious question, what regulates fat accumulation. This was elucidated by 1965 and has never been controversial. 'Insulin is the principle regulator of fat metabolism'..."^[12]

John Tierney in his New York Times review entitled "Diet and Fat: A Severe Case of Mistaken Consensus", discusses information cascades and the role of Ancel Keys in widely held beliefs related to diet and fat. Tierney quotes Taubes in noting that "the most rigorous meta-analysis of the clinical trials of low-fat diets, published in 2001 by the Cochrane Collaboration, concluded that they had no significant effect on mortality."^[13]

Awards[link]

Taubes has won the Science in Society Journalism Award of the National Association of Science Writers three times and was awarded an MIT Knight Science Journalism Fellowship for 1996-97.^[4] He is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation independent investigator in health policy.^[14]

See also[link]

• William Banting

References[link]

Publications[link]

• Nobel Dreams: Power, Deceit and the Ultimate Experiment. Random House. 1986. ISBN 978-0-394-54503-5. 
• Bad Science: The Short Life and Weird Times of Cold Fusion. Random House. 1993. ISBN 978-0-394-58456-0. 
• Epidemiology Faces Its Limits, Science, July 1995.
• Nobel Gas, Slate, October 11, 1997.
• The Soft Science of Dietary Fat, Science, March 2001.
• What if It's All Been a Big Fat Lie?, New York Times Magazine, July 7, 2002.
• Do We Really Know What Makes Us Healthy?, New York Times, September 17, 2007.
• Good Calories, Bad Calories: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom on Diet, Weight Control, and Disease. Knopf. 2007. ISBN 978-1-4000-4078-0.  (Also published as The Diet Delusion ISBN 978-0-09-189141-1)
• Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It. 2010. 
• Is Sugar Toxic?. The New York Times, April 13, 2011.

External links[link]

• (Link is dead) Webcast of Lecture by Gary Taubes at University of California, Berkeley -- "The Quality of Calories: What Makes Us Fat and Why Nobody Seems to Care"
• Webcast of Lecture by Gary Taubes at Stevens Institute of Technology, Center for Science Writings, Hoboken, NJ, USA, 2/6/2008 -- "Big Fat Lies"
• Article by Gary Taubes questioning the efficacy of exercise in weight loss -- "We Can't Work It Out"
• Excerpt from Good Calories, Bad Calories and NPR interview -- "Not All Calories Are Created Equal, Author Says".
• Interview with Gary Taubes by Knight Fellowships at MIT
• Interview with Gary Taubes by John Horgan (Stevens Center for Science Writing, Cross-check): "Science Saturday: Why We Get Fat"
• Interview with Gary Taubes by Aaron McCloud, Seattle, 2012, and the Interview Transcript