I Knew It!

Fair warning; this is going to be one of those "I told you so" posts, so if you don't want to hear me gloat, you probably should skip to the next blog.
Pistachios. That's what this is all about, the little nut with the split shell. Strange ingredient in greenish color ice cream, somewhat addictive, lightly salted, decent nutrition (consumed in moderation), one of those silly little snacks that most of us enjoy from time to time.
When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time with my Dad hanging around his various cars. He'd be flushing the radiator in the spring, I'd be right there, handing him tools, holding the garden hose, and generally getting in his way. Back in those days, the cars weren't full of computers and electronics, and repairing them was, for a good mechanic, kind of simple. But, there were times that even Dad couldn't fix the car, and when that happened, he'd run it up to either the Chevron or Amoco stations on Jericho Turnpike in New Hyde Park. Most times, I'd go with him, either to drop it off, or pick it up; occasionally I'd go both times. And sometimes we'd have to wait a bit for the owner to write up the repair, or to finish up the bill. I'd wander around the station office, a wonderful spot, full of auto parts, fluids, pictures of cars, and usually, a couple of vending machines.
There would be a soda machine, and maybe a couple of those glass jar vending machines that held gumballs, M&M's, cashews, or pistachios. I always tried to have a couple of coins with me when we went to the garage, and of course, I'd hit up the vending machines. My usual snack would be either cashews or one of the candies, followed by a gumball (in my mind, the gum would clean the nut or candy residue from my teeth). I pretty much avoided the pistachios, they just seemed odd, these bright red shells with the light green nut meat - an odd combination, to be sure. But, as sometimes happens, one day I mistakenly put the nickel or dime into the wrong machine, and out came about 8 or 9 of those ridiculously bright red nuts. What to do? Toss 'em away? Nah, that would be a waste of the dime, which, back in 1962 or '63, was actually worth something. I studied the nuts carefully, and noticed that each one had a little crusty salt coating on the end that was split open. How bad could they be if they had salt on them? So I carefully pulled open the shell of one of the nuts, and haltingly put it in my mouth.
Hey, this is pretty good! Slightly sweet, nutty with a nice texture, and just enough salt to be interesting. I was hooked. The rest of the nuts quickly disappeared, and instead of my usual gumball purchase, I got another shot of the pistachios. And, of course, by the time I'd eaten both handfuls, my fingers were a nice bright red - which I discovered didn't wash off easily. From then on, each time I found myself in a shop that had those little red nuts, I'd buy them, they really were good.
Time rolls on, and through the years, those old gas station garages disappeared, and with them went those vending machines. Sure, they had them in markets, and sometimes in department stores, but those machines all had gum, or little toys, bouncy balls, but rarely if ever did you see pistachios. Occasionally, I'd buy a small tub of the little red nuts at the market, they'd come home and be consumed fairly quickly - they are pretty addictive, and rather small, you can eat a hundred of them and not feel like you've eaten anything. Through the years I'd indulge once in a while, then sort of got out of the habit and didn't buy pistachios for a long time. But then, in the late 90's and early 2000's, a new marketing campaign promoted 'California Pistachios'. Larger, easier to open, full of nutrition, they were touted as one of those really good snacks, like most nuts or droops. But there was a difference; these nuts weren't red, they were a very light tan, almost white color. I bought them, and they were good, but to me, they never tasted the same as the red ones. I mentioned this many times, that the red ones tasted different, and the answer I got from lots of folks was, 'that's not possible, the red is just food coloring'. But I swore they were different - better. I also found that the red ones were becoming scarcer and harder to find in stores. I continued to buy the big plain nuts, but never really enjoyed them the way I did the red ones.
And then, late last year, I had a bag of the plain nuts, and they were so flavorless that I never finished them, and ended up tossing them after they laid around the pantry for a couple of months. I really did miss those old red nuts and their flavor. So I did a little research, and found something quite interesting.
It seems that until the late 1970's the bulk of the world's pistachios were grown in Turkey and Iran. That variety of pistachio is called the Antep, and it was the most commonly found pistachio here in the U.S. The nuts from Turkey and Iran were harvested by an old fashioned method, which caused the nut shells to become bruised and discolored during the process. These shells did not look appealing to most consumers, and so, to hide these imperfections, nut processors would dye the nuts a deep red. That red color hid the dark spots, and of course, caught the eye with their bright color. 

Ahh, there you go, those are pistachios! And the red nuts were easily found in markets here right up until the late 1970's. And then, we hit the Iranian hostage crisis. Iranian 'students' seized the American Embassy, and held our citizens captive. President Carter ordered an embargo on Iranian goods, which included those beloved pistachio nuts. Nuts from Turkey were still available, but this was the opening that the California producers had been hoping for. California producers increased their output, and using new, modern mechanical harvesters, were able to gather the nuts without bruising and damaging the shells. They were then marketed as 'natural' pistachios. Add in the concerns about the possible effects of red food dye, and the market had shifted permanently. The California pistachio became the predominant product. Of course, the California pistachio is larger, and somewhat different in texture than the Turkish and Iranian nuts. And, they have a much different flavor profile. They are milder, somewhat 'creamier', and don't have the slightly bitter edge that the Antep nuts do.

The Iranian embargo was eventually lifted, and the imported nuts returned to the market, but the damage was done. And of course, things go in cycles, and in 2011 Mr. Obama put a new embargo into place as Iran began to develop nuclear weapons. And yes, the poor pistachio was again included in this embargo. And so, it was California pistachios for most of us after that. 
But now, through the magic of the internet, there are multiple sites that sell imported Antep pistachios. Most of these come from Turkey, and for the most part, are sold without the red coloring (although you can sometimes find the red ones around Christmas time). So a couple of weeks ago, I ordered two pounds of these pistachios from "We've Got Nuts". 

And there you go! As you can see, Antep pistachios are slightly darker in color than California nuts, are somewhat smaller and narrower, with smaller nut meats. There also seem to be a few more unsplit nuts in each batch, but......THEY TASTE GREAT! There IS a difference in these nuts; this is the taste I remember from the old red pistachios. Darker, deeper flavor, a slightly crunchier meat, this is what pistachios are supposed to taste like.
And so, as I cracked my first few nuts open and tasted them, I said to Karen, 'yeah, this is the flavor....I'm 9 years old again, hanging around the Chevron station with my Dad'.
You know, they claim that scent is the strongest memory triggering sense, that certain smells, odors, and scents stay with us, and if they are detected, even decades later, can bring back very strong memories. I'd have to guess that if scent is the strongest trigger, that taste has to be a close second. Because when I'm eating these things, they do bring back so many memories of those times, of my Dad, and of the things we did together. Very cool stuff.
And so, I can say it: I TOLD YOU SO! The red pistachios DID taste different, and better, than the white ones.
Truth be told though, I actually do miss having those red fingertips after enjoying a couple of handfuls of the red beauties!