Roasted Pistachios in Shell, Salted - Weight Includes Shells

These are pistachios roasted and salted in their shells: fustuq halabi mohammas, as Egyptian nut roasteries sell them. Halabi is simply part of the everyday Arabic name for the pistachio, not a note of where these were grown. We buy them already roasted and pack them ourselves into resealable pouches of 250 g, 500 g and 1 kg. The weight on every pouch includes the shells, and roughly half of it is shell, so a 250 g pouch gives about 125 g of kernels.

Pistachio shells usually split open a little at one end as the nut ripens, so you prise each one apart with a thumbnail, and the salt on the shell reaches the kernel as you eat. Inside is a green kernel in a thin, papery skin, and roasting gives it a toasted, rich taste and a crisp bite. A shell that stays shut opens most easily with the edge of an empty half-shell used as a lever, not with your teeth.

In Egypt pistachios belong to the sweet tray and the feast table. Chopped pistachio is the green on konafa, baklava, basbousa and muhallabia, and on many of the petit fours bought for Eid. In their shells they are a bowl for guests, set out with tea through the evenings of Ramadan and at Eid, with a second bowl beside it for the empty shells.

Eat them by the handful with tea or coffee, with a small bowl beside you for the shells. For sweets, shell them, chop the kernels and scatter them over konafa, baklava, om ali, rice pudding, muhallabia or ice cream; a little salt sits well against syrup and cream. They are already roasted, so add them to anything that bakes near the end of the baking time: a second long bake can darken them and make them bitter. If they have lost a little crunch, warm them for a few minutes in a dry pan and let them cool.

Pistachios are a tree nut, one of the major food allergens, and for some people even a small amount can cause a serious reaction. This pouch contains TREE NUTS (PISTACHIOS). Keep it away from anyone with a nut allergy, and wipe boards and bowls after chopping. People allergic to cashews often react to pistachios as well, because the two are close relatives. We cannot confirm that they were roasted or packed away from peanuts, other nuts or sesame, so if you have another food allergy as well, ask us before you order. Whole nuts are a choking risk for small children: chop or grind them for young eaters. Keep the hard shells out of their reach too.

Two things this page does not claim. We have not been able to confirm where these pistachios were grown, so no country is named here. Pistachios are also widely sold with long lists of claimed effects, and this listing repeats none of them. They are sold as food, and nothing here is a health claim or medical advice.

Roasted pistachios keep their crunch and their fresh, toasted taste for a limited time, because the oil in a roasted nut slowly goes stale, faster in heat and light. Keep the pouch pressed shut, cool and dark, and in a hot kitchen keep it in the fridge. Count on about three months of best taste from delivery while the pouch stays sealed, and about one month once it is open. If they ever smell sharp, like paint or old oil, instead of toasted, they have gone rancid and are best thrown away.