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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxt!houxm!ihnp4!inuxc!pur-ee!uiucdcs!convex!sysvis!george
From: george@sysvis
Newsgroups: net.cooks
Subject: Re: Orphaned Response
Message-ID: <-84919758@sysvis>
Date: Thu, 26-Sep-85 15:58:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: sysvis.-84919758
Posted: Thu Sep 26 15:58:00 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 30-Sep-85 01:18:03 EDT
References: <1219@brl-tgr.ARPA>
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Nf-ID: #R:brl-tgr.ARPA:-121900:sysvis:-84919758:37777777600:1163
Nf-From: sysvis!george    Sep 26 14:58:00 1985


> ... lead me to have the impression that pine nuts are quite expensive these
> days. ... when I bought them then, from the Lebanese-Syrian Bakery which
> was then in my neighborhood, they were not cheap, but were ... Anybody have
> any data as to why this happened?
 
Any cuisine which comes from a desert climate will include (desert) pine nuts
as part of the diet.  Lebanon, and the western United States (AZ, NM, CO, UT,
et al) are two areas in particular.  These nuts are commonly sold in the west-
ern states as "pinon nuts" (pinon with a `~' over the middle n, pin-yoan nuts).
They have been around for a long time, what with their being a basic staple
in Amer-Indian and early Spanish (hence pinon) desert diets and all.  Being
a desert plant, there is not a good way to increase production, supply/demand.

	> Are there other sources under development?
Unfortunately, yes.  Some areas of Africa are experiencing drouth conditions
which are expanding the desert.  The pine nuts will grow wild in the deserts.
They are expensive to buy, good to eat, and hard to find.  Pinon praline
candy is considered a very nice delicacy in New Mexico/Southwest states.