The tipicality of Bronte's pistachio
It has a particular color who has earned a name of its own: the green "frastuchino 'is the tone with which you indicated the bright emerald which is dyed pistachios from Bronte. The name derives from the greek "pistàkion 'but the origins of the green fruit on which is built the economy Bronte are more distant. And to find them just a few notions of dialect in Sicily, the frastucare are plants of pistachio, and frastuche called pistachios. Names, both of which are probably from the Persian "fistij." As early as the third century BC it was argued that the pistachio - originally from Syria and Turkey - was a powerful aphrodisiac as well as the best cure for snakebites.
To bring in Sicily they thought the Arabs in the ninth century AD, when they landed in Marsala to begin their conquest of the island. In just submissive territory, the Arabs brought their traditions. And, also, their crops. The poet Horace, in the first century BC, talking about the capture of Greece by Rome wrote: "Greece conquered conquered the barbaric winner." He meant that, although Greece a possession, managed to capture the favor of the Romans. The same could be said of Bronte with pistachio. Although cultivation was not endemic, the slopes of Mount Etna pistachio found the fertile ground that he had not found anywhere else in the world.
The reason for this spontaneous symbiosis is the ash that Etna lava spewing out from its crater during each activity: the volcanic dust contains a huge amount of minerals that enrich. And that switch to the land on which the powder itself rests. It is the land contaminated by volcanic ash one of the secrets of a fruit so green and aromatic. One feature, this, that clay soils will never be able to play.
The shrub of the pistachio is out of the black rock of the lava now cold. It is grafted on another plant, the oak, which serves as its bearer. The plant pistacia real lives on the shoulders of pistacia terebintus. A strain that does not produce fruit, but - thanks to its strength - allows pistachio grow on rough terrain and weather conditions often difficult. Bronte is the only place, in Sicily, where the oaks grow wild, without the need of human intervention. Which is limited, then, to reap the benefits of this coupling is particularly successful.
The lively color of pistachio is due to a high concentration of chlorophyll - always higher than the proportion of 1.3, and able to get to peak of 1.6 - for which we must thank the wealth of the land. But not only. Colour intensity - that distinguishes the pistachio pistachios from all other commercially - is also due to temperature changes of the geographical Bronte.
The cuticle covering aubergine protects chlorophyll and allows her to remain inside the fruit. And its formation must to temperature changes between day and night: the vesting period of the pistachio, there can be up to six or seven degrees of difference between when the sun beats and when, instead, the sun sets.
Among the characteristics of a fruit DOP, then, there is the other fatty acid content. So that it is pistachio which can obtain the certification, in its interior serves that there is 72 percent of oleic acid, 15 percent of linoleic acid and 10 percent of palmitic acid. All help to give the fragrance right to the final product.
Together with these elements must then consider others two important: the percentage of moisture and the size. The humidity should be less than 6 percent and is required by law. Is a number which must always be kept under control, because it is essential to have the certainty that the pistachio, during drying and storage, not developments toxins harmful to man. Finally the size: the ratio between the length and width of each kernel of a pistachio who wants to be recognized PDO must be between 1.5 and 1.9.
That all these criteria are met, the pistachio is harvested only once every two years. The alternation is due to the fact that the trees are not able to produce, for two consecutive years, pistachios hold high qualitative and quantitative standards. This is why in Bronte pistachio shrubs are left fallow in alternate years, eliminating - by hand - the buds to avoid weakening the plant and to protect it from attack by any insect pests.
From 9 June 2009 - after a bureaucratic process that lasted nine years - pistachio green Bronte was awarded the protected designation of origin. European certification PDO - guarantee of uniqueness and quality - concerns the production area which is between 300 and 900 meters above sea level, and that includes the towns of Etna Bronte, Adrano and Biancavilla.
With its high content of protein and its low carbohydrate intake, the pistachio is one of the foods whose consumption is more suitable in balanced diets. It also contains large amounts of phosphorus and potassium, but also magnesium, calcium and vitamins A and B. As if this were not enough, the pistachio is listed as snacks for diabetics: the lack of cholesterol makes a fruit at the same time tasty and healthy. The only explanation is necessary that all these qualities apply to pistachio natural, without added. To Bronte it is dried in the sun, is neither toasted nor salty. Perfect due to its natural antioxidants that stimulate the cardiovascular circulation.