The market · Nuts and seeds · Southern Europe, The Middle East
Pine nuts
The seeds from inside pine cones — soft, sweet and resinous; the nut in pesto, and in Levantine rice and meat dishes.
resinous · sweet · buttery
What to do with it
Rosa Ibarra's Clarified milk punch, mezcal and pineapplePine nut would soften its edgeIbu Sari's Sambal ijoPine nut would soften its edgeKenji Hara's Milk punch, with hojichaPine nut would soften its edge
LevantineKibbehFine bulgur pounded with lean lamb and onion into a paste, shaped around a filling of spiced mince and pine nuts and fried — or baked in a tray, or eaten raw.No one here has made it yetLevantineFattehLayers of toasted flatbread, warm chickpeas and garlicky yoghurt with tahini, finished with pine nuts sizzled in butter or ghee.No one here has made it yetLevantineMansafLamb cooked in a sauce of jameed — dried, fermented yoghurt — piled on rice over thin bread, with toasted almonds and pine nuts.No one here has made it yetLevantineMusakhanRoast chicken on taboon bread soaked in olive oil and heaped with onions cooked soft with sumac, scattered with pine nuts.No one here has made it yetTurkishDolmaVegetables hollowed and filled, or vine leaves rolled, round rice with herbs and spices and sometimes meat.No one here has made it yetItalianPesto alla genoveseBasil pounded with garlic, pine nuts, salt, parmesan and pecorino, loosened with olive oil and tossed raw through trofie or trenette.No one here has made it yet
Kinds
- Mediterranean (pinoli)
- Long and slim, from the stone pine; more resinous, and dearer.
- Asian
- Shorter and rounder, cheaper. Some have been linked to 'pine mouth', a bitter aftertaste that lingers for days.
Goes with
Knowing it
- Where to buy
- In small amounts; keep them in the fridge or freezer, as they turn rancid quickly.
- Worth knowing
- Toast in a dry pan, shaking, and tip them out the moment they colour — they burn in seconds.
