Toast pine nuts before eating them? A must, Cracco dixit!
Origin
Pliny wrote “pine nuts quench thirst, can calm heartburn and eliminate the weaknesses in many parts”. Pine nuts are a very precious fruit. It takes three years for them to rip completely. The best known tree spices in Europe is the stone pine (Pinus Pinea). Pine nuts are contained in pine cones and are formed from a seed enclosed in a hard shell. They are extremely nutritious, rich in fat and proteins.
Cookit
Pine nuts are very versatile: they can be eaten fresh or added, with raisins, to fried vegetables like endive or chicory. They are great in pies and are used quite often in traditional and rustic italian cakes. It is a key ingredient if you want to make cream and especially for pesto!
Did you know that
Did you know that, according to Ovid, pine nuts had aphrodisiac properties? In his masterpiece “Ars Amatoria”, he describes this ingredient as a food that can promote love.
