sadrice explains why "Red Pistachios" are no longer common, and gives a brief history of the American pistachio-growing industry.

https://old.reddit.com/r/Cooking/comments/1d3idxl/i_want_to_put_together_the_most_inconvenient_meal/l69eo7n/?context=3

created by Anomander on 07/06/2024 at 19:48 UTC

173 upvotes, 2 top-level comments (showing 2)

Comments

Comment by JohnnyEnzyme at 07/06/2024 at 23:19 UTC

21 upvotes, 2 direct replies

Traditional harvest involves beating the trees with sticks to knock the nuts down. This causes bruising of the fruit, and unsightly staining of the shell. Thus the dye.

I didn't really understand this part at first. It seems the nut that we eat, surrounded by the shell, is in turn surrounded by a thin fruit layer. It looks like a tiny mango when fresh, and is part of the cashew family[1], which includes some somewhat toxic species, such as poison oak & poison ivy.

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anacardiaceae

Pictures:

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22Pistachio+fruit%22&udm=2

Comment by mullacc at 07/06/2024 at 21:32 UTC

13 upvotes, 1 direct replies

the least salacious thing I've read that contains the phrase "blackjack and hookers."