Pistachios - A Lesson in Deception?

I love to eat nuts. I have many favorites and one of my favorites is pistachios. Although I recently found out that the pistachio is actually not a nut. Pistachios are the seeds of the pistachio tree. They’re usually green and slightly sweet. They’re called nuts, but botanically pistachios are seeds. I remember that they were in a red shell when I first started eating them. The kernels can have different colors, ranging from yellow to shades of green but the pistachio nutshells that surround the naturally pale green nutmeat are naturally a creamy light beige color.

The disappearance of red-dyed pistachios can be directly traced to the growth of domestic pistachio production in the United States. Before the 1970s, pistachios were imported from Iran and other Middle Eastern countries to the United States. In addition to mottled markings on the pistachio shells from drying, these imported pistachios generally had a host of unappetizing stains and discolorations due to traditional harvesting methods in which the pistachios were not hulled and washed immediately after harvest. So Middle Eastern producers and exporters took to dying their product red. The few American pistachio producers at the time followed their imported counterparts and began to dye their product as well, if only because Americans were used to seeing these bright red-pink nuts. But the 1980s saw a decline in imported pistachios as an embargo on Iranian pistachios was enforced, and further economic sanctions on Iran levied on and off for years. The number of American pistachio producers increased in response and began to increase the domestic supply of pistachios quickly. The new mechanized harvesting processes used by American producers now pick, hull, and dry the nuts before the shell can become stained, rendering the need to dye the nuts to hide imperfections unnecessary.

The Bible says that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). Interesting that the pistachio is not really a nut but a seed and was dyed red to hide a host of unappetizing stains and discolorations. Satan's disguises can be pretty deceptive and taste or feel good, just like pistachios. The pistachios covering was unveiled and now the real pistachio is what we see. Are we like the beautiful red pistachios or the natural ones? Ahhhh.... pistachios - a lesson in deception.