The latest from the New York Times adventures in Italy: Florence Fabricant in Sicily exploring the world of Bronte Pistachios! Nunzio Caudullo of the Antonio Caudullo Pistachio Company, showed her around Bronte as they explored the “green gold from the base of the volcano,” pistachios!
In her article, Fabricant compares Bronte Pistachios to Californa Pistachios:
“They are definitely different. Compared with California pistachios, they are smaller, more deeply green, with skins beautifully brushed in royal purple, and they have a more richly concentrated flavor.”
What accounts for this unique pistachio? “The lava in the earth, the minerals in the lava, makes the taste of our pistachios different.”
Bronte pistachios are wonderful but so rare. As Fabricant says, “Mr. Caudullo explained, since Bronte pistachios account for less than 1 percent of the world’s pistachio production,”
But we’ve got ’em! We import ours from The Caudullo family As Fabricant says, “Gustiamo, the importer of fine Italian foods in the Bronx, sells 8.8 ounces of shelled Bronte pistachios.” Chef Ignacio Mattos from Café Altro Paradiso is also quoted in the article talking about how much he loves them.