Please forget those Chicom bulk pine nuts in COstco, ugghhh...

These are the REAL DEAL, and the flavor is magical!

http://newmexicopinonnuts.com/Buy_Ne...Pinon_Nuts.htm

Fresh - Unroasted 2016 Piñon Nuts
$14.95/ 1/2lb.


Roasted & Salted Piñon Nuts

$16.95/ 1/2lb.

Or:

http://pinonnuts.com/

Roasted & Salted Pinon Nuts

$13.95/ 1/2lb.

http://pinonnuts.com/About_Pinon_Nuts.htm

Flavor Differences of Southwestern Pinon nuts, Nevada Pine nuts, Italian
pignolia, and Asian varieties..

Piñon Nuts:: Euell Gibbons the famous naturalist from the 1970's (seen
on grape nuts commercials), described the New Mexico Piñon nut as being
the best tasting wild food in the world. He did not say all pine nuts -
only the New Mexico Piñon nut (Pinus Edulis). If you have ever tried
one, you would remember the flavor... no pine resin taste, just creamy
toasted goodness. There is only one number one wild food in the world -
and this is it.

Nevada Pine nuts, are very "resinous" and have a strong pine taste. -
you can tell instantly that it is a Pine nut - or could guess even if
you never tried one before.. Nevada Pine nuts (Pinus Monophelia) are
sold in the Southwest when New Mexico Piñon nuts run out.

Asian Imports: Pine nuts from Korea have a slightly less resinous taste
than Nevada Pine nuts, but one could still know they are from a pine
tree. China - Blandest tasting pine nuts, unfortunately because of
improper handling, or possibly an inherent character of the species,
they tend not to store well, and go rancid within 12 months. Many rancid
samples have come across my desk.

Italian pignolia Most similar tasting to New Mexico Pinon, very creamy,
buttery toasted flavor with the slightest hint of pine taste... but many
have blamed over cultivation to the blanding of the flavor of this variety.

Pine trees are common, less known perhaps is the fact that some members
of the pine family also bear edible seeds or "nuts". Out of the 100
recognized species of true pines, only a "few produce nuts of sufficient
quality and desirable flavor to make them worth eating."

Pine nut varieties that have different names come from different species
of Pine trees. Pine nuts from New Mexico are called Pinon nuts or Piñon
by Law in New Mexico. Euell Gibbons called the pinon nut "The most
palatable of all the wild foods." This is quite a compliment. Pinon is a
name derived from the Spanish word for pine nut. Pinon nuts come
specifically from the pine tree species: Pinus Edulis. They taste
different from other varieties. The pinon pine tree is a two-needled
pine which grows wild in high desert mountain areas of Colorado, New
Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. These edible nuts are not to be confused with
the "single needle" pine tree from Nevada. The pinon nut grown primarily
on Indian reservations in the Southwest United States is normally
roasted in the shell. Their availability is rather scarce, and the pinon
nut must first be removed from the shell prior to consumption. New
Mexico Pinon nuts are very difficult to harvest, hence their cost.

Pine nut development in North America is modest in comparison with that
in Europe. The Italian pine tree, with superior timber, is larger and
grows faster than the stunted pinon of the southwestern United States.
Italian stone pine plantations are well established in Mediterranean
Europe, while the American pinon remains mostly neglected and uncultivated.

About European Pine nuts

The most common in Europe is the "pignolia" nuts of the Italian stone
pine, grown for the most part in Spain, Portugal, Italy, and North
Africa. In Italian stone pine harvests, the trees are shaken to remove
the kernel. Once removed, they are dried further before being processed
in a milling station to remove the kernel from its hard outer shell. The
kernels and shells are separated by sifting; the testa, or thin skin
which still covers the kernel, is then removed. Thereafter, the kernels
are graded and sized. Superior, unblemished, shelled kernels, both large
and small, are reserved for the export market; the remaining kernels are
sold locally or utilized in prepared foods. Although pignolia nuts may
be eaten out of hand, raw or roasted, they have the distinction of being
the only nuts used predominantly as ingredients for cooking. For many
centuries in European cookery, they have been blended with meats, fish
and poultry, and have been used in many different sauces.