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Pine nuts


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I would think they'd be hard to find there. The ones you could find would probably be the ones from China. They are tiny little white nuts and have a very distinct flavor especially when lightly roasted. We pick them up here in New Mexico in fall. The trees bear once every 7 years and they command a big price. They usually are sold in the shell raw or roasted and are tedious to shuck for recipes but the locals usually eat them out of the shell which requires several unique techniques. 

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They sell the white and also the pink pine nuts at Super Lake.  They are not in the back with other bulk nuts anymore.

They are in a locked case behind the fresh bakery.  You need one of the employees to open the case.  I use them for making pesto,  However they are expensive and I am now using walnuts instead and buying a small bag of pine nuts  to sprinkle on top of a goat cheese, sun dried tomato and pesto appetizer.

maw

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The true pine nut is pinkish or white, very small and very expensive. Costco sells a larger white variety in the same section you find the unsalted almonds that is a lot cheaper and does a fine job. Once you taste a pine nut, you never go back. Just be careful when you toast them, a requirement to really bring out their yumminess. They scorch very quickly so keep an eye on them and take them off the heat as soon as you get a whiff of them toasting.

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The white pine nuts from Costco are from China; I asked at Costco for their place of origin.  Most of the white ones sold in Mexico--even in bulk--are Chinese.

The pink pine nuts are harvested in Mexico.  IMHO, buy those.  They're not inexpensive by any stretch of the imagination, but they're delicious.

If you happen to be in San Miguel de Allende during November, you'll see local vendors selling pine nuts along the roads.  I buy them in the shell and freeze them to crack as I might need them.  The young man who sold me a half-kilo last November, when I led a tour to SMA, taught me how to easily take the shells off.  If anyone needs that information, let me know.

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Unfortunately, to buy them at CostCo, you have to invest in a whole bag, which runs around $400 pesos for 680 gr last time I looked (before the dollar went nuts). I don't know what kind of shelf life they have; it would be a shame to have them go off because you can't use them fast enough.

I got some at el Granero in Ajijic (by Gossips) at $680p/kilo. I think I recall MoreLiana saying sometime that some types are bitter? I definitely found that with these after toasting them, although by the time the pesto I made was being eaten with noodles, and some salt, it was no longer bitter.

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I cook a lot with pine nuts , the white ones and never had a problem. They are used extensively in the south of France from the spinach to the cakes, all have pine nuts in them. I wouldnot worry about the problems with them we do not have enough money to make them hazardous..

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Best value is Costco at $499 for 24 oz.  I saw small packs of them at SuperLake and they were $75 or so for at best one ounce. They store well in the freezer. In fact, all nuts are best stored in the refrig or freezer or else they will turn rancid. 

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