What can be said about Iranian pistachios?

All over the world, Iran is one of the most sought after pistachio producers in the world. This quality is directly attributed to its sunny climate and cold, rainy winters.

Iranian pistachios are considered a luxury product in some countries such as Japan and Germany. The English word Pistachio is derived from the word pistachio, which is an Iranian name, and is also referred to as green almond. Pistachio seeds are intertwined with Iranian history and culture, and they are present in all aspects of Iranian life.

In all Iranian stories, in literature, customs, customs, beliefs and celebrations of the country such as Yalda (the longest night of the year) and Nowruz (Iranian New Year) pistachios are mentioned and even pistachios are used in weddings and funerals.

Iranian pistachio has many local names and each name indicates region, quality, shape and type of pistachio. However, there are four main groups of pistachios in shape.

All types of pistachios in Iranian markets, either roasted or raw, are available in different production methods, such as machini, closed or open pistachios, salty, roasted, salted and roasted pistachios with lemon seasoning.

Iran currently leads the table of high-quality pistachio production with around 270,000 tons. Iranian pistachio has many advantages that distinguish it from competing products.

Four types of commercial pistachios give customers a better position to generate income, in addition, pistachios with a large pulp have great financial value.

The irresistible taste of Iranian pistachios enjoys a worldwide reputation. Roasting Iranian pistachios at higher temperatures in unsaturated oil improves their taste.

Roasting pistachios at high temperatures removes bacterial contamination that may be present in the product. Here are five main advantages of Iranian pistachios:

1- Variety of Iranian pistachios

Curious Iranian farmers grow large varieties of pistachios on a small scale. Every decade or two, the cultivation of one of these species becomes popular and it benefits in many ways, causing other farmers to grow it.

The survival on cultivation of some of these species made them permanent and commercial varieties. In general, all kinds of commercial Iranian pistachios can be divided into two main groups according to their shape: “long pistachio” and “round” pistachio.

Long pistachio: In this type of pistachio, the ratio of the length of the pistachio to its large diameter is more than 1.5.

Round Pistachio: Pistachio with a ratio of length to large diameter less than 1.5 is called round pistachio.

From the original pistachio tree, long pistachios are obtained. Round pistachios were first cultivated about five years ago by an old Rafsanjani farmer named Sayyid Ehadi. Some of the newer varieties, such as the Mumtaz pistachio or the white pistachio, are expired and no longer produced.

Iranian pistachio contains many cultivated species. Such as Hazelnut pistachio (40% of pistachio gardens), Ahmed Aghaei pistachio (12%), Alkleh Ghochi pistachio (20%) and Akbari pistachio (15%). Each cultivated plant has its own taste and characteristics.

2- More pulp-to-grain ratio

The ratio of Iranian pistachio pistachios to seed size and shell is higher than that of other pistachios. This means that if you buy the same size of pistachios, you will find larger edible pulp in Iranian pistachios.

The bone-in pistachios weigh about 0.02 ounces (0.57 grams). And the Iranian pistachio core or kernel, the edible part, contains about 80% of its weight.

3- The possibility of roasting

They usually roast pistachios to improve their flavour, aroma and texture. The purpose of roasting is to cook the beans with dry heat, making the food item cook evenly on all sides. Most seeds are roasted without the shells, but pistachios are usually boiled with their bony shells on. When roasting, part of the moisture of the grains is removed, so the roasted grains have less weight than the raw ones. For this reason, the percentage of fat in roasted beans per ounce is much higher. Iranian pistachios are more suitable for roasting. Because due to the high level of trans fats, it can be boiled at a temperature of 140 to 180 degrees. The unique taste of pistachios results from proper roasting, while removing any live bacteria from roasted pistachios. The low roasting temperatures recommended by some pistachio suppliers do not meet the two high characteristics.

4- Taste

Breaking the pistachio out and removing the core from its creamy skin is just as sweet. This is excellent considering the high creamy and earthy taste of the pistachio seeds. The taste of pistachios is indescribable and there is no other food like it. Iranian pistachios are more delicious because of their high roasting ability.