Why pine nuts are so expensive
"Pine nuts are the fanciest of all the nuts. They're smaller, cuter and have a sweet, subtle flavor. They also happen to cost a small fortune. But we buy them anyway because pine nuts make it worth it when we add them to our cooking." The Huff Post
Yes they are expensive. I checked today in Aldi, where no doubt they are the cheaper Chinese variety and they are cheaper anyway because it's Aldi and even there they are indeed $50.00 a kilo. Of course they just come in a small packet which costs $5.00 and so you don't think about it. Well I don't anyway, because when you need them, you need them and you don't need a kilo at a time. And yes we do put them in pesto and consider them an essential in pesto, but apparently, really the only essentials are basil, oil and garlic. Felicity Cloake thought that pesto without them was a bit thin and watery though.
Why am I doing pine nuts? Well the other day I went to Readings and found yet another of Greg and Lucy Malouf's wonderful travel/cook books - Saha - on their bargain table. Obviously I could not resist and when I got a moment I did start reading it. It's about the food of Lebanon and Syria, and heading the chapter on dips is a whole lot about pine nuts, because the Malouf were taken to a village where they were grown.
Then I started to research a bit and found a brief but informative article in The HuffPost which added a few more things to my knowledge. So really, yet again, I am cheating and just repeating what somebody else has said.
It rapidly became obvious why they are so expensive - expensive and lengthy to harvest and produce basically - and I shall explain a bit more, as well as demand outstripping supply. They are so expensive and so reliant on the right conditions that in Italy back in 2015 there were a series of large robberies of pine nuts because the supply was reduced for some reason. And demand still outstrips supply - we don't really produce any here as yet for example. These days the largest supplier is, of course, China but also, of course, the foodies claim that these are not as good as the European - and presumably Middle-Eastern varieties. The European ones are slenderer than the Chinese which are rounder and stubbier. Wikipedia (and SBS) tells me that some pine nuts (they think the Chinese ones) can cause taste disturbances - a bitter metallic taste that can last a few weeks called pine mouth. This is not harmful but is also not pleasant. I must say I shall be looking at the pine nuts that I buy with a greater degree of intensity from now. I also learnt that they go off extremely quickly - well become more rancid in taste. And my guess is that most of the pine nuts I have used have gone off, because it's one of those things I just make sure I have on hand, so they have usually been in my pantry for some time before I use them. You should keep them in the cool and the dark, or freeze them. I really am beginning to wonder about my nerve in writing about food. I am so uncaring and slapdash in so many ways - mine are kept in glass jars. Maybe $50.00 a kilo is really, really, cheap and nasty. Heaven knows what fresh and best quality pine nuts cost - where you would get them.
Pine nuts come, surprise, surprise, from pine cones and are technically a seed not a nut. Several species of pine can produce seeds that are large enough to be used (about 16 of them) - the Mediterranean one is the Stone Pine. The trees grow tall and take up a lot of land and it takes ten years from planting your pine tree to getting a harvest. Each set of pine cones may take from 18 months to 3 years to mature. Each scale of the cone has two seeds.
So, once your pine cones are at the right stage, you then have to get them off the tree. Yes, lots just fall to the ground, but some are gathered by hand by guys who climb the trees at risk to life and limb. At least they do in Lebanon according to Lucy Malouf. The trees are pretty tall, so it is unlikely that they have machines that go through and pick them I would have thought.
Then you have to get the outer layer of the cone off. I'm guessing there are machines that do this, but then again, maybe not. But this is not the end of the story, because the seeds are stored in an inner husk which also has to be removed by machine I think, though sometimes hand operated, and then there is a paper thin coating that has to be soaked off and removed by sieving by hand in Lebanon. Again, I am sure that the large-scale operations (and there must be some) have machines to do this. Nevertheless this is a long and tedious process. I think there might be a bit of drying along the way too. In Lebanon they use the husks as fuel. Maybe they have similar uses for them elsewhere - mulch?
So at last you have your wonderful pine nuts - what to do with them?
Your possibilities are pretty much endless - from the ubiquitous pesto to salads, and cakes. They have a very high oil content, and because of this, if you are toasting/roasting them (and most recipes ask you to do this) you have to do it very carefully or they will burn. Don't take your eyes off them whilst doing it.
Nigel Slater has a whole article in The Guardian as to what to do with them and you could do worse than turn to this for suggestions. But as I said, there are endless possibilities out there. Just go to your favourite cookbook or the net.
Worth every penny.
