I WANT TO TALK a bit about that valued resource that comes from the Middle East but which the US now produces more of than any single country in that region. One with which we are currently engaged in a bit of a spat. Something that is not irreplaceable, but that right now everyone seems to want. A product that California now produces more of than Iran.
I speak, of course, of pistachios.
That’s right, California now grows more pistachios than does Iran (I want to say produces more nuts of all kinds, but I will restrain myself).
Evidence of humans consuming pistachios can be traced back to 6750BCE. That’s a lot of shells cracked. Leave it to humans to try anything, even something with a hard shell. Perhaps early residents watched the nuts being cracked and eaten by birds (no monkeys in Persia) like the Iranian ground jay (the only bird endemic to the area — put that on your list, birders). That’s almost 9,000 years of continuous consumption without even knowing that pistachios are high in monounsaturated fats (or being able to spell that).
The nuts are crammed with nutrients like fiber, good fats, antioxidants and quality protein. Eating them on a regular basis supports weight management and a healthy heart as well as aiding in regulating blood sugar. Our Middle Eastern ancestors might not have had access to all the biochemistry, but they quickly realized that pistachios made one feel good. Leave it to humans to monkey with a long tradition.
Green innovation
Looking to come up with something different to satisfy those delightful cravings that pregnant women cannot ignore, and to offer through her small company Fix Dessert Chocolatier, British-Egyptian business owner Sarah Hamouda worked in her own kitchen to develop a chocolate bar that featured a filling of pistachio cream and crumbled kadayif (a type of phyllo dough). It was hoped that it would sell well.
No one expected it to take over the Earth.
Forty or so years ago the resultant product might have gained a reputation across the Middle East, where shoppers were familiar with both pistachio and kadayif. An American soldier or two might have come across it in a market, bought a bar and brought some home. But these days (in this case, specifically 2021) we have Tik‐Tok. Influencers got hold of the bars, tried it, and pronounced it the greatest treat since all the apples Eve did not get to. A few big retailers picked up on it, and suddenly green no longer meant just dollars. Unless, of course, you were fortunate enough to own an interest in a pistachio orchard or two.
What was once a regional delicacy is now ubiquitous. It seems that every producer of chocolate candy is offering one or more spinoffs from the original. From manufacturer to manufacturer flavors vary as much as price. If you pick up a bar, or a box of truffles, look for the fine print that reads “Dubai-style chocolate.” That allows for a host of variations that have little or nothing to do with the original formula. Any day now I expect to see bars containing imitation chocolate, peanuts dyed green to resemble pistachio and ground-up rice crackers to substitute for kadayif. But hey, these products clearly say (okay, sometimes not so clearly) Dubai-style.
Are all the copycats ruining Sarah Hamouda’s business? Well, in the first hour after the initial viral TikTok video went live her little company had 30,000 orders. So I reckon she’s surviving. Not to mention suddenly being world-famous.
A Dubai chocolate bar contains about the 11same number of calories as 100g of plain pistachios (562). Whereas a 100gm bar contains 560 calories, it also contains 40g fat and 32g sugar. To put that in better perspective, that’s 25% of daily recommended calories and 64% of your daily sugar limit. Different bars reflect different totals. Leave it to Middle Eastern cooking to confuse us.
As another example, take chocolate bars made with camel’s milk. Lots of advantages to that, including being higher in vitamin C and iron than chocolate made with cow’s milk. But the real benefit is that it can be eaten by those who are lactose-intolerant but love chocolate. Pity we don’t see that regional product in our local markets.
Which leads to the obvious question: how do you milk a camel? I’m tempted to say “very carefully,” but I’ll leave you to research that subject on your own.
It’s true that the internet can be harmful in some ways. But how else could a kitchen experiment in tiny Dubai become a worldwide phenomenon? After 9,000 years of eating a simple nut, a new recipe leads to unimaginable fame.
What’s in your kitchen?
Prescott resident Alan Dean Foster is the author of 130 books. Follow him at AlanDeanFoster. com.
