Let's Talk about Raw Pistachios!

[goodsamaritan]

Well ha ha lucky... the Indian grocery near me sells RAW PISTACHIOS.
And they do not sell it as anything special like a "health food store".

I get raw pistachio for P 1,600 / kilo

Exchange rate here https://www.google.com/search?client=ubuntu&channel=fs&q=php+to+usd&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

So far I have consumed some 3/4 kilo along with my kids.

I think these come from Iran if their primary imports come from India.

If I want a little salt in it I whip out my black salt.

Please share your benefits, reviews, sources for raw pistachios.

[ciervo-chaman]

i had 100 grms last week, i paid like 20 argentinian pesos for them (a lot of money)

they were salty taste (maybe they were not raw?) how do you know if they are raw? they were quite adictive too... i started and finished the little bag in one sit..

after eating that bag, i promised myself never again buy that nut.. haha

[goodsamaritan]

The indian grocery had the usual heated dry salted in the shell pistachios in a bag out in the shelves.

These raw pistachios are in the refrigerator, they are not dehydrated and are a bit chewier no salt... I asked what the difference was and the old lady said the ones in the refrigerator were RAW pistachios.

[van]

I remember something about raw pistachios going moldy quickly, something you may watch for.

[ciervo-chaman]

How Pistachio Nuts Are Harvested and Processed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeJVTolV_KY

this is a nice video showing how the iranians treat the pistachios (large quantities) and then how they are treated when they arrive europe (or just england)

dried at the sun (some) and dried on high-heat (some others), on iran, so, some of the dry pistachios still can be raw. (if solar drying is considered raw!)

When they arrive europe, some are raw and unsalted, but then they show how they are salted (with salt mixed with water) and dry roasted on high-heat

the ones in your picture look just like the ones they were harvesting directly from the trees, cool!

[cherimoya_kid]

I enjoy them, but I can't get them fresh. When I was living in southern Cali I could get wonderful fresh raw pistachios, i would eat them until they gave me diarrhea. LOL

[goodsamaritan]

When I was young my parents used to go to some fancy ice cream shop that had PISTACHIO flavoured ice cream with pistachio bits, it was one of our favourites.  I haven't had that in a very long time.... hazy memory... maybe it is time to look for some just to relive the memory and cheat.  Sprinkle it with our raw pistachios?  Hmmm.... it's a plan...

[eveheart]

Pistachios (and other tree nuts) are a major crop in California (see Cherimoya Kid's comment). The quality of most raw pistachios are questionable because they get mishandled and stored too long, so it's important to find out about the source, which is easier if you are eating local. They are a fall crop here, so the annual crop is ready for sale around October or November. If you don't know the year of the crop, then you could be getting nuts that are many years old, especially if the price is a real sweet deal. If you do find a recent crop, they can be stored airtight in the freezer to prevent them from getting rancid. IMO, once you taste a fresh raw pistachio, you'll quickly reject the musty taste of a rancid one.

[TylerDurden]

The only decent ice-cream is one in which there are significant parts of the relevant fruit/nut etc. in them. I hate the processed variety where one gets the impression that chemicals rather than dissolved foods are key ingredients.

By all means, buy from Iran. It is, after all ethical, given the US sanctions against Iran. I doubt I get any Iranian foodstuffs here in Austria because of insane, draconian EU sanctions against Iran, but I do console myself at least  by refusing to buy any dates  from Israel, something I used to do all the time, years ago.

[TylerDurden]

For some reason, I do not easily get a "stop" sign when eating raw nuts. I just go on and on eating until the pack is empty. This is problematic.

[JeuneKoq]

but I do console myself at least  by refusing to buy any dates  from Israel

Well that's sad. What wrong did the date tree do, except being born in an area some humans have one day claimed to be their property?

Seriously now, I understand why you wouldn't want to financially support a group of individuals as hateful and barbaric as the current Israeli government, however there are tons of kibbutz and independent farms that are anything but xenophobic or hostile to their arab neighbors. Believe me, I was there all Spring.
I joined 4 different "eco" projects  from top North on Mt. Hermon all the way Down to Eilat on the tip of the red sea, and all the workers and project managers I met were truly "arab-friendly". Some employed and collaborated with Syrians, one kibbutz organized farming workshops for Jordanian farmers...
I wouldn't go out on a limb and say every Israeli citizen is actually peaceful and Arab-friendly, but I believe this hate against the Palestinians and such partly has to do with the government's current "fear thy neighbor" propaganda.

So if it's possible for you to see exactly where in Israel does those dates come from, I can assure you that dates comming from the "Lotan" kibbutz are 100% hate-free

Note: I am not Jewish, and to be quite honest Israel wasn't my top destination when looking for a place to do some volunteering work, but after the first hours of fearing I would die in a suicide bombing attack the rest of my trip was actually quite pleasant. Met a lot of nice people (even a raw vegan girl  don't hate!), stayed in beautiful places, and had my tan before any of my friends back home  However I doubt I will return there before a long time, or ever, since the religious atmosphere is a bit too heavy for my liking, especially in the city of Jerusalem.

[raw]

Raw nuts are definitely delicious but I still prefer meat or sea animals over nuts.

[TylerDurden]

JK, I meant that I would prefer buying lots of foods from Iran. If I could do so, ie if there were no sanctions against Iran, I would not mind buying from Israel so much.

As regards areas, I know that some organisations are calling for specific boycotts against the Israeli settlements in the West Bank, but, afaik, nobody is forced to write down the area of origin on  their products, only the country of origin.

Hmm, weren't the kibbutz a communist-oriented scheme? I vaguely recall something of the sort.

[JeuneKoq]

JK, I meant that I would prefer buying lots of foods from Iran. If I could do so, ie if there were no sanctions against Iran, I would not mind buying from Israel so much.

As regards areas, I know that some organisations are calling for specific boycotts against the Israeli settlements in the West Bank, but, afaik, nobody is forced to write down the area of origin on  their products, only the country of origin.

Hmm, weren't the kibbutz a communist-oriented scheme? I vaguely recall something of the sort.

I don't know about communist, but surely community-oriented or regulated, as in :"We are not associated with any particular private businesses; Each member of the kibbutz community is paid the same, be it the chief director or the simple laborer; etc..."
At least that's what I understood.
 However it is changing now, as it is apparently more lucrative in terms of money gain to be associated with one kind of date exporting business, or milk processing factory... Also some people want to be able to buy bigger houses or better cars than those provided and shared by the whole community, get a bigger paycheck than the simple teenage volunteer...
So kibbutz are getting privatized. Lotan was on it's way to getting privatized when I last volunteered there, and of course not every body is (was) ok with it. But I'm no expert on kibbutz organization and diplomacy so don't know exactly what's at stake here  .

[Iguana]

JK, I meant that I would prefer buying lots of foods from Iran. If I could do so, ie if there were no sanctions against Iran, I would not mind buying from Israel so much.

I never felt so unwelcome in a country than in Iran, and it was in 1977 before the Islamic revolution, in the Shah’s time. But Iran is a big and diverse country; there are also very nice people there and I eat dates from Bam, Iran because these are certified conform to our requirements. Not sure about the ones from Israel: fruits exported from there are said to be irradiated.   

[TylerDurden]

I never felt so unwelcome in a country than in Iran, and it was in 1977 before the Islamic revolution, in the Shah’s time. But Iran is a big and diverse country; there are also very nice people there and I eat dates from Bam, Iran because these are certified conform to our requirements. Not sure about the ones from Israel: fruits exported from there are said to be irradiated.   

Well, anyway, I cannot really eat any dates from Israel any more. Not so much for reasons of ideology, but the stuff I used to buy("medjool dates")

http://www.organicearthmarket.com/images/products/17240.jpg

must have had some nasty additives in them  as I, soon after eating them in quantity,  would start expunging a dark-coloured fluid from around my eyes which sort of looked like mascara/eye-shadow, which was somewhat embarassing for a non-transvestite like me. Reminds me of the time I once, as a teenager, developed  a nasty skin-inflammation disorder which made my lips turn bright purple so that some people actually assumed I was wearing lipstick.

Funny that you had such a bad experience in Iran. Most probably, it was because of resentment at the Shah being a puppet of the Western powers. My father had a far more enjoyable time working there, but then he spoke Persian(Farsi?),  and obviously had made it clear to others that he was very pro-Shah.