;)
Now, I love Pistachios
Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 12:49PM Before I tell you why I love pistachios now, I should tell you why I didn’t like them before, right?
I’m sure the best reason I did not like pistachios was because pistachio ice cream is green. The idea of green ice cream does not appeal to me. Yes that includes mint-chocolate chip. But I will make exceptions for lime sherbet because I never claimed to be consistent, and limes are awesome. I expect limes to be green. I do not expect nuts to be green.
Until our recent foray into New Mexico I had not eaten pistachios since I was about four years old. My grandmother visited and brought pistachios and dates with her. She loved them. They were strange, exotic foods for me. Perhaps the dates were too much like cockroaches? Perhaps the pistachios were too little like peanuts? I didn’t like them. There’s no real accounting for my four-year-old taste though. I didn’t like beer and onions then either. In fact, my dad will tell you that the only food I ate for a very long time was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. He was sure there was something wrong with me. My diet worried him. But I am living proof that it didn’t kill me. My steady breakfast of a Dr Pepper and a Twix bar in high school didn’t kill me either, but neither I nor any scientific entity will recommend that as a sound nutritional practice.
But I digress. I was talking about pistachios.
What was the cause of my recent reconsideration of this nut? Perhaps it was an encounter with the World’s Largest Pistachio near Tularosa, New Mexico? No, while that strangely vulval roadside attraction may have softened my attitude a bit, the credit really goes to my parents-in-law. They’re the ones who bought a bag of pistachios and left their innocent, partially-cracked, lightly-saltedness on the counter in the condo in Ruidoso, inviting anyone to share.
One nut was meh. The tenth greenish, tannish, reddish nut though, probably caused a bit of an obsession. Perhaps my brain was softened by the relaxing and happy trip we were having. Surely that didn’t hurt. Perhaps it was just that the pistachios were Just. So. Good.
And it’s not just me. Partner had a similar turnaround in his pistachio-tude as well. We’ve had pistachios of three different origins since returning to Texas and find the New Mexico nuts far superior. Not just because of the fond memories they prompt of our lovely vacation, but because they were much more crisp than their farther-flung counterparts.
This is not, by the way, a paid endorsement for any pistachio grower or distributor, but if anyone wants to send me some of those Tularosa pistachios, I WILL happily eat them.
Reader Comments (2)
The dates were too much like cockroaches? Just when I think I'm getting closer to tolerating dates you turn them into cockroaches while green food is suddenly more appealing to you. I don't know what to do with this.
I also don't have any delicious Tularosa pistachios because I would most certainly send them your way. Yes, I really would.
Sorry about that, Victoria. Last week at a library activity, the amazing librarian had the kids tasting gross foods. One of her confections was "cockroaches." Made from a whole date, split in half, filled with cream cheese and crunchy walnut bits. Yum. And thank you for the pistachio wishes. xo