History of pistachios - in general

The first provable authentic historical mention of edible nuts refers to pistachios without any doubt. The first archaeological findings date back to 6760 B.C. in the Palaeozoic period – in near settlements in the Neolith – in the territory of the present Jordan. Pistachios were soon considered food for the rich and the chosen. Although pistachio trees have been known for a long period of time, the place of their origin is uncertain. They probably come from the Middle East, Persia (Iran), and western Asia (eastern Pakistan and India), where they used to grow wildly in high positioned desert regions.

Interesting facts:

History of Iranian pistachios

Pistachios occupy a special place in the heart of every Iranian. They are a kind of food allowing families to be together, they are in every home, ready as a delicacy for a guest or neighbour who may just drop in to have a cup of tea. They are one of the most popular and delicious snacks Iran has. Pistachio trees have already been growing in Iran for centuries, their home being above all in the Kerman province where pistachios are grown on an area exceeding two hundred thousand hectares.

Their commercial use began in the 1930’s where businessmen from Iran started to export pistachios to Europe and the USA above all, and also to Czechoslovakia before World War Two. At that time they also cleverly allocated individual kinds of pistachios to each market, e.g. Jumbo to the USA, Round to Europe, etc.

After World War Two the actual commercial expansion of Iranian pistachios occurred, and lasted till the 1970’s, i.e. the beginning of the Islamic revolution. In the next years all business deals cooled off and the war with Iraq followed. Only after its termination did the modern history of pistachios begin again.

Iran is not only a grower of first-class kinds of pistachios but it is also the main producer of this product in the world, with the volume of production reaching 100 to 200 thousand tons every year, depending on the period of time. Besides crude oil, carpets and caviar, pistachios belong amongst the main items exported from Iran.

History of pistachio growing in the USA

The first pistachios were brought to California around 1854. In the 1930’s a team of American experts – botanists started to look for the best material in Iran suitable for cultivation and subsequent growing in the same conditions as those in Iran. This lasted till the 1960’s. The commercial growing of pistachios on plantations only started to develop around 1970. Until that time the Americans had been completely dependant on supplies from Iran.

Due to the crisis that followed the incident on the American embassy in Teheran in 1976, and due to the subsequent interruption of imports as a result of sanctions imposed, pistachios from California appeared in the limelight. At present nearly the whole consumption of pistachios is covered from domestic sources. The production of pistachios in California is one of the industrial branches together with processing of almonds. Production and processing of pistachios and almonds is becoming a profitable business for a lot of Californian growers. The support provided by the government made a number of growers of almonds extend their growing by pistachios. The first commercially usable crop was harvested in 1976. The production has increased rapidly until the present day.

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