Pine Nuts

Botanical Name: Pinaceae pinus

Common Names: Pinon nuts, pignoli, cedar nuts, chilgoza, piñones (Esp), Pāgala pā'ina (Hin), Paiṉ paruppukaḷ (Tam)

Origin: Turkey, China

Description: For over 10,000 years Native Americans have harvested and relied on the pine nut as a main food source. For Native Americans living in the great basin, the pine nut became a staple of their diets. Pine nut harvest would begin in summer and last until fall and was such a big deal that the first harvest of pine nuts was considered to be a large social gathering. Today in America the main harvesters of pine nuts are still Native Americans though pine nuts are grown worldwide with distinct differences in the European and Asian pine nuts.

In North America pine trees mainly are grown in the cold forest regions such as Siberia and Canada. The flowers of the tree turn into a cone, known as pine cones, and once mature and dry the cones will naturally split up and the seeds or edible nuts. The nuts are encompassed by a tough dark brown shell, though when out of the shell they have a very long shelf life, making storage very easy.

Pine nuts are frequently added into meat, fish, or vegetable dishes and even are often baked into bread. They are a major component in the Italian pesto sauce and pine nut coffee has become increasingly popular especially in Southwestern U.S.A.

Kitchen Pharmacy: Pine nuts are high in essential fatty acids as well as monounsaturated fats. Pine nuts have been linked to aiding weight loss as well as  lowering cholesterol.

Nutrient Information: 1 Tblspn

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_nut,

http://www.pinenut.com/pinon-pinyon-history/value-nevada-forests.shtml, http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/pine-nuts.html