So what's the story here? Well, before 1979, the U.S. imported the majority of its pistachios from the Middle East. When the pistachios were harvested, they weren't immediately dried and this caused water stains to appear on the shells. These stains were thought to be unappealing, so the nuts were dyed red to cover the stains.
In 1979, the U.S. placed an embargo on Iranian pistachios, which gave U.S. pistachio growers a chance to get in on the market. The U.S. growers used a different harvesting process, which resulted in the pistachios being dried right away. No water stains meant no dye needed.
So there you have it. The first food fact that you never knew you wanted to know.
Hi Crista! Thanks for the fun information on pistachios. I do remember when they used to be red, but never thought about why that had changed. Although not related to pistachios at all, I have a food question that I have been wondering about... Why do flour tortillas and pie crust taste so different, and have such different textures, when they are essentially the exact same ingredients?
ReplyDeleteHi Tim! I'm sorry for the delay in responding to your question. I didn't receive a notification that I had a comment. I will have to see about fixing that.
DeleteIn any case, thanks for the idea for a future post! Stay tuned...
I found your post very interesting especially the fact that pistachios were dye red, I find this interesting because that mean that at one point in time red fingertips were synonymous with eating pistachios and not with eating flamin hot cheetos.
ReplyDeleteHi Arturo!
DeleteYour Cheetos comment made me laugh! And yes, that would be a true statement. Thank you for commenting!
This is actually really interesting! I honestly had no idea that the shells were previously red. Looks like they still sell them as well. Thanks for sharing and looking forward to some more facts from you!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteI have seen red pistachios for sale and wondered what the difference was. A quick search indicates that they are probably just for nostalgia sake since the ones I saw in my search are from California.
That was such a super interesting food fact! When I think of pistachio nuts, I automatically associate it to that beautiful, vibrant green color. If I ever saw a red pistachio nut, I would be so confused!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
ReplyDeleteIt was actually the shell around the nut that was red, whereas these days they are tan or light brown. It would be cool to have red pistachios, though!