What are pine nuts?Do they come from pine trees?

pine nuts are very good... when cooked or combined in a recipe they add a flavor like other nuts.... they are crunchy and look kinda like a white corn nut... lol... i don't really care for artichokes much but people really love them... they have more of a bitter taste and a texture like a harder avocado.... deep fried they are pretty good..... and then squid, it is fantastic as long as it is a good quality and it is prepared right.... soak it in milk then flour and fry... it is like butter... good squid should not be chewy... i don't eat it sauteed but alot of people do usually in a marinara sauce or white wine garlic sauce...

Oh come on now

You know pine nuts MUST come from Pine Trees..

as for taste raw they are bitter

toasting mellows it out ,,,it is a pine flavor

The artichoke

So very delicious

Often so very expensive but a Truly a fun food

http://www.oceanmist.com/products/artichokes/artic...

http://www.artichokes.org/recipes.html

Squid or Octopus

I will recommend to you to have any of this Deep fried at first the meat may be be a bit chewy but it is sweet with no overpowering flavor It might remind you of chopped clams

I don't believe there is any food that within reason that should not at least be tried

I will not do raw eggs or slimy raw oysters and the like

If you have not done these,, have you passed on Sushi and Shashimi???

I am 68

My grand children (daughters B&G) were sheltered from my tutorship

we went to rather fine Pizza place

They had an appetizer plate of calamari

I of course ordered it and well some what teased them and chomped on the crispy battered treats,, They were just like french fries and they indulged to discover the sweet meat

Ta Da

Pakistani Pine Nuts are 100 % organic edible seeds come from the native foothills of Hindu Kush and the great Karakoram Himalayan region of Pakistan and Afghanistan appearance as stone pines; featuring long slender, pointed kernels.

Pakistani Pine is the biggest size kernel in the world. Organic wild pine nuts are collected by hundreds of local inhabitants as an additional source of income Pine trees and is commonly known as chilgoza or botanically “Pinus gerardiana” known for producing world's rarest and finest pine nuts with a naturally rich flavor and aroma.

http://mehranbiz.com/

Here's a little education for you.

In Europe, pine nuts come from the Stone Pine (Pinus pinea), which has been cultivated for its nuts for over 6,000 years, and harvested from wild trees for far longer. The Swiss Pine (Pinus cembra) is also used to a very small extent.

In Asia, two species are widely harvested, Korean Pine (Pinus koraiensis) in northeast Asia (the most important species in international trade), and Chilgoza Pine (Pinus gerardiana) in the western Himalaya. Four other species, Siberian Pine (Pinus sibirica), Siberian Dwarf Pine (Pinus pumila), Chinese White Pine (Pinus armandii) and Lacebark Pine (Pinus bungeana), are also used to a lesser extent.

In North America, the main species are three of the pinyon pines, Colorado Pinyon (Pinus edulis), Single-leaf Pinyon (Pinus monophylla), and Mexican Pinyon (Pinus cembroides). The other eight pinyon species are used to a small extent, as are Gray Pine (Pinus sabineana), Torrey Pine (Pinus torreyana) and Sugar Pine (Pinus lambertiana). In the United States, pine nuts are mainly harvested by Native American tribes; in many areas, they have exclusive rights to the harvest.[citation needed]

Ecology and status

In the United States, millions of hectares of productive pinyon pine woods have been destroyed due to conversion to grazing lands, and in China, destructive harvesting techniques (such as breaking off whole branches to harvest the cones) and the removal of trees for timber have led to losses in production capacity.[2]

Physical characteristics

European Stone Pine nuts (Pinus pinea) to be compared with the picture belowPine nuts contain (depending on species) between 10–34% protein, with Stone Pine having the highest content.[2] They are also a source of dietary fibre. When first extracted from the pine cone, they are covered with a hard shell (seed coat), thin in some species, thick in others. The nutrition is stored in the large female gametophytic tissue that supports the developing embryo (sporophyte) in the centre. Although a nut in the culinary sense, in the botanical sense pine nuts are seeds; being a gymnosperm, they lack a carpel (fruit) outside.

The shell must be removed before the pine nut can be eaten. Unshelled pine nuts have a long shelf life if kept dry and refrigerated (at –5 to +2 °C); shelled nuts (and unshelled nuts in warm conditions) deteriorate rapidly, becoming rancid within a few weeks or even days in warm humid conditions. Pine nuts are commercially available in shelled form, but due to poor storage, these rarely have a good flavour and may be already rancid at the time of purchase.

Korean Pine (Pinus koraiensis) pine nuts - unshelled, and shell, above; shelled, belowIn an important Pueblo Indian story, a maiden eats a pine nut given to her by a divine figure and becomes pregnant. The child she bears is the Aztec conqueror Montezuma.[citation needed]

Culinary uses

Pine nuts have been eaten in Europe and Asia since the Paleolithic period. They are frequently added to meat, fish, and vegetable dishes. In Italian they are called pinoli or (rarely) pignoli[4] and are an essential component of Italian pesto sauce. The pignoli cookie, an Italian specialty confection, is made of almond flour formed into a dough similar to that of a macaroon and then topped with pine nuts. Pine nuts are also featured in the salade landaise of southwestern France. Pine nut coffee, known as piñón (Spanish for pine nut), is a speciality found in the southwest United States, especially New Mexico, and is typically a dark roast coffee having a deep, nutty flavour; roasted and lightly salted pine nuts can often be found sold on the side of the road in cities across New Mexico to be used for this purpose. Pine nuts are also used in chocolates and desserts such as baklava. It is also a widely used ingredient in Middle Eastern cuisine, reflected in a diverse range of dishes such as kibbeh, sambusek, ladies' fingers and many others.

Throughout Europe and Middle East the pine nuts used are from Pinus pinea (Stone Pine). They are easily distinguished from the Asian pine nuts by their more slender shape and more homogeneous flesh. Due to the lower price, Asian pine nuts are also often used, especially in cheaper preparations.Pine nuts contain thiamine, vitamin B1 and protein. Many dieters eat pine nuts because of their proven ability to suppress hunger[5].

Risks of eating pine nuts

The eating of pine nuts can cause serious taste disturbances, lasting for days or weeks. The taste disturbance develops approximately one to three days after consumption. A bitter, metallic taste is described. In general, only a minority of pine nuts on the market present this problem.

The phenomenon of taste disturbances was first described in a scientific paper in 2001.[6]

Since the article, and especially in recent years, experiences of the phenomenon (strong bitter taste in the mouth for several days after eating pine nuts), hav