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Article: Pine nuts pricey because of high cost of harvesting them: Most of those sold in U.S. come from China
- Article from:
- Charleston Daily Mail
- Article date:
- November 3, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2004 Charleston Daily Mail. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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If you've ever gazed up at the pine tree in your yard and wondered
if you could harvest some fresh pine nuts from those cones, the
answer is yes - and good luck.
Pine nuts, also known by their Italian and Spanish names,
"pignoli" and "pinon" (often spelled "pinyon"), come from specific
varieties of pine trees, about 20 worldwide, that produce edible
seeds. The individual seeds are encased in a hard shell inside the
pine cone. After harvesting, the cones must first be heated, then
left to dry before small, hard seeds can be shaken out of the cones.
These seeds are cracked open to get to the pine nut.
This labor-intensive harvesting is the reason pine nuts are so
expensive (the most expensive ...