Majida Rashid
People are like pistachios, some open up easily, but others may need to be broken into, in order to know them.
— Anonymous
Nuts are an integral part of Middle Eastern cuisine. Deserts like Baklava, Kunafa, Lokum (aka “Turkish Delight”), Burma Kidyaf and Labanese Mafroukeh cannot be imagined without pistachio nuts. Fasting in Ramadan or Lent wouldn’t be the same for Lebanese without Maamoul Madd. The common denominator in all these and many more deserts is pistachio. Eighteen pieces of small handmade mussel-shaped pistachio-filled baklava can cost over $24. Pistachios are also a popular snack in the Middle East.
Evidence found in Turkey indicates that humans used this nut as far back as 7,000 B.C. Legend has it that queen Sheba pronounced pistachios fit for royal consumption only. Even King Nebuchadnezzar is reputed to have grown pistachios for his wife, Amytis, in the fabled Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Emperor Vitellius is credited for bringing the nut to Rome in the first century A.D.
Pistachio is known as pisteh in Iran, which is believed to have domesticated the nut. Its Farsi name is adapted in neighboring Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.
Iranian Gaaz, an Ishfahani specialty is pistachio nougat. Their Loz-Nargeel and Nan-e-Nokhodchi, coconut and chickpea flour cookies, cannot be made without pistachios.
These yummy nuts are packed with potassium, phosphorus, Vitamin E, B6 and B1, folates, chlorophyl, amino acids, healthy fats, magnesium, antioxidants and carotene.
A handful of pistachios, if eaten regularly are known to boost energy, calm the mind, support DNA repair, improve skin health and much more.
Compared to the other nuts, pistachios are low in oxalate which, when ingested in high amounts, can cause kidney stones. They have a long shelf life and don’t go rancid for a while even when stored at room temperature.
Pistachios are dioecious hence male and female trees have to be planted near each other. They thrive in a hot and dry desert-like climate and grow in bunches. Their outermost husk is usually green and pink. The kernels are also covered with a thin edible skin.
After each harvest, pistachios are hulled in machines, which remove the husk and even open the nut a little more. Fresh pistachios are deliciously soft but they cannot be sold due to the risk of growing a fungus called Aflatoxin. To pre-empt the fungus the nuts are given a salt bath. One ton of pistachios are shaken for about 15 minutes in 100 liters of salt water. A sample from each batch is tested for fungus and quality. Then they are sent for packaging where most of the unopened nuts are picked by hands and separated.
California is the biggest grower of pistachios in the United States followed by New Mexico. Who would have guessed that the 30-feet tall pistachio monument stands not in Iran, Turkey or Syria, countries that have been consuming the nut since antiquity, but outside a pistachio farm in Alamogordo, New Mexico, where pistachio trees are grafted in oak and mesquite trees. What an honor!
In Pakistan, pistachios are eaten raw, cooked with kheer, rice pudding, incorporated in Kulfi, Pakistani ice cream that surpasses all the world’s ice creams in flavor and used to decorate a few other desserts. As a child I never liked candy because I didn’t have the patience to chew them. But I couldn’t have enough of kheer because of the nuts.
Pakistani Kheer
Ingredients
1/2 cup rice soaked overnight
4 cups full cream milk
1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon of ground cardamom
1. Drain the water from the rice and cook in milk over low heat, stirring almost continuously until the milk is reduced to half.
2. Add sugar and cook a for 15 minutes after it is dissolved completely.
3. Stir in 1 tablespoon of ground cardamom, turn off the heat, cover and let stand for 10 minutes.
4. Pour into a serving dish.
5. Sprinkle with thinly sliced pistachio, cover and refrigerate overnight.
Serves 2.
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Foodie Majida Rashid lives in Texas. Food and cooking are her passion. Her philosophical writing can be read at apakistaniwomansjourney.wordpress.com. @Frontiers_Of_Flavor
