American Pistachio – Virtual Harvest Tour

Pista has to be most favorite dry fruit. It’s because my grandpa used to always call my younger sister as, ‘’ Nishtha, khaye pista’’ meaning Nishtha should eat pistas. Having that fond memory, I didn’t realize when this dry fruit became one of my favorites. Also, it’s widely used in making Indian desserts. Lately because of pandemic, we all are facing challenges to attend events. But thanks to technology we all are connected through it. Recently, I was informed about American Pistachio – Virtual Harvest Tour by FBAI. It immediately amazed me because I had never known about the process and what is the exact source of the same. On the 18^th of November, I was fortune enough to attend American Pistachio – Virtual Harvest Tour which was one such event wherein I learned about many hidden facts about pistachios followed by a cook along session by America’s leading chef, baker, and author Nancy Silverton.

American Pistachio Growers is a non-profit trade association representing over 800 grower members in California, Arizona, and New Mexico. They strategically curated an interesting way to give insights about the growing and harvesting process in the United States by hosting a “Virtual Pistachio Harvest Tour” in California’s San Joaquin Valley. The event was hosted by leading Hollywood Celebrity Billy Harris. Virtually we took a tour of the American pistachios farms and were shown high quality of pistachios and the high degree of care and food safety that goes in producing and processing them.

Ms. Judy Hirigoyen, Vice President, Global Marketing of APG said that “India is a growing market for American pistachios. The volume American pistachio exports to India is growing rapidly as more Indian consumers are getting aware about the health benefits of these amazing nuts. Only recently American pistachios were declared as a Complete Protein which implies that these pistachios will have the same benefits that one would typically find from animal protein sources. This we believe will result in tremendous demand in a primarily vegetarian society like India. American pistachios are also great for Diabetics and Pre-Diabetics, Judy added.”

Mr. Sumit Saran, India Representative of American Pistachio Growers said that “India does not produce any pistachios. Traditionally pistachios in India were only used for garnishing but we now see more and more consumers look towards American pistachios as a healthy, anytime snack. People are always looking at plant-based protein sources and American pistachios fit right in, he added.”

To add excitement to the tour, a “Cook Along” with America’s leading chef, baker, and author Nancy Silverton came next. Chef Nancy is the winner of the James Beard Foundation’s Outstanding Chef Award in 2014 and is recognized for her role  in popularizing sourdough and artisan breads world over. .

She prepared two mouth-watering recipes using American pistachios. Pistachio Macaroon tart and Whole roasted cauliflower with pistachio crumble and green onion creme fraiche.

I was amazed to see Whole roasted cauliflower with pistachio crumble and green onion creme fraiche which was savory dish that was prepared using these pistachios because Indians majorly use pistachios in desserts and Indian mithai. Though it was a virtual session but trust me that just looking at the food being prepared live in front of you is not less than an experience. I was literally salivating and was craving. What i did next was to try those dishes myself.

I absolutely had a great time learning about the whole experience and so much in depth information was shared by American Pistachios Growers. Not to forget the exotic recipes by Chef Nancy Silverton which added cherry on the cake.

Thank you, American Pistachios Growers and team FBAI for this wonderful and informative session. Loved being a part of it.

Checkout the website for more information: https://americanpistachios.org/

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