The Pistachio Journey

From Kerman to California

The word “pistachio” comes from the Persian “pesteh” via the Latin “pista.” According to an ancient Greek chronicler, when King Astyages of the Medes gazed over his army after its defeat by Cyrus the Great, he exclaimed, “Alas, how brave are these pistachio-eating Persians!” And so Persians became known as “pistachio-eaters.

The oldest archeological evidence of pistachios was found at Jarmo, a site located in southern Kurdistan in the foothills of the Zagros Mountains. Jarmo was one of the earliest agricultural communities in the world, dating back to about 7000 BCE. Ancient written references to the nut are numerous, such as one in the Hebrew Bible: Genesis 43:11, which mentions honey, pistachios, and almonds.