Who knew that store bought pine nuts come from China?

I sure didn't until I read a cooking blog about making pasta squares and pesto with mediterranean pine nuts. Here is a source for them. http://www.nutsonline.com/nuts/pinenuts/mediterranean.html I do not like pine nuts but the blogger said these are different and the real thing. It was also interesting that the chef she referred to says not to use EVOO for making the pesto for the pasta squares. http://theitaliandishblog.com/imported-20090913150324/2009/10/1/the-perfect-pesto-with-pasta-squares.html

I did. My partner and I are on the warpath against food from China. Also, I live near Sahadi's, a mostly Middle Eastern food store run by an import/export guy so it gets quite a wide variety of food... from real places.

Sigh.

My current hunt is for Sicilian pistachios. I can find Turkish and Syrian and American, but not the Bronte nut from Sicily. Any ideas where to look?

Jeff - have you tried BuonItalia in the Chelsea market? If anyone has them I would guess they would - or at least know if they are available.

I have not tried them yet. They are now on the list! Thank you.

Karen, the link you provided was an eye-opener. Yes, I knew the stale Chinese pine nuts sold in US grocery stores were overpriced and lacking in flavor, but I didn’t realize that Italian pignolas came from a different species of tree than the ones I get my pine nuts from every fall. The bristlecone pine is common in the southern Sierra Nevada of California and all across the Great Basin. Indians survived on pine nuts and still do—harvesting them is a little tedious, so I more and more rely on bags of locally gathered pine nuts at the grocery store in Ely, Nevada. I use them in pesto and many other recipes and they taste great, but I’ll have to get some of the Italian ones and see if I’ve been missing out.

I did. My partner and I are on the warpath against food from China. Also, I live near Sahadi's, a mostly Middle Eastern food store run by an import/export guy so it gets quite a wide variety of food... from real places.

Sigh.

My current hunt is for Sicilian pistachios. I can find Turkish and Syrian and American, but not the Bronte nut from Sicily. Any ideas where to look?

If you call the number on this link and ask for them, they may be able to help you. http://www.buonitalia.com/Default.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

Chinese pine nuts are horrible, I buy mine from an Italian grocery in Arthur Avenue in the Bronx.

When I saw the Pine Nuts at Trader Joe imported from China, looking scraggly and sorry, I worried about insect infestation and mistreatment of Chinese workers. I gave it a pass and bought good ol' US-grown pinenuts at Whole Foods. They taste excellent.

Jeff - have you tried BuonItalia in the Chelsea market? If anyone has them I would guess they would - or at least know if they are available.

Joe, I just Googled on Buonitalia and yest they do have the Pistacchio di Bronte Naturale, but Damn those things are $$$$$! $32.95 for a pound of nuts in the shell. If one wants them without the shell, they run $43.95 for 4/10 of a pound. plus I guess shipping. And I thought gasoline was expensive. Are they worth that kind of money?

Jeff - have you tried BuonItalia in the Chelsea market? If anyone has them I would guess they would - or at least know if they are available.

Joe, I just Googled on Buonitalia and yest they do have the Pistacchio di Bronte Naturale, but Damn those things are $$$$$! $32.95 for a pound of nuts in the shell. If one wants them without the shell, they run $43.95 for 4/10 of a pound. plus I guess shipping. And I thought gasoline was expensive. Are they worth that kind of money?

Bob: I doubt they are worth it, since they are only pine nuts! I won't be finding out at that price.

Bernard: I don't know about your Whole Foods but the ones around here have only Chinese pine nuts. And the packets in our Trader Joe's are labeled 'contents from Russia or Korea'.