Pistachios

Persians were known as pistachio eaters as far back as the sixth century BCE. As a snack there is nothing better than a handful of roasted, salted, lemony pistachios in the shell. For cooking, I use raw California-grown pistachio kernels, which are now widely available in supermarkets in the U.S. Some of my recipes call for slivered pistachios, which can be harder to find. You can buy them at Iranian markets or via the Internet (at Sadaf.com), however, or make your own by cutting the raw kernels lengthways.