Lamb chops are a simple but gourmet dish. Many of the most important starred chefs have tackled this recipe. This is because lamb meat is one of the most versatile, but… maybe because what’s more delicious than ribs with pistachio breading?
In Italian cuisine, pistachio is one of the most versatile and precious ingredients: it lends itself with excellent results to the creation of both sweet and savory recipes and gives each dish an unmistakable flavour.
The use of pistachios in cooking is not a modern discovery: already consumed in Ancient Greece and in the East in the 3rd century BC, pistachios spread throughout Italy during the Roman Empire with the conquest of the eastern provinces. The Romans, greedy for this precious fruit, also tried to cultivate it on Italian soil but with poor results: the plant, probably due to the climate, never produced fruit and over time it became wild, used only as firewood.
Pistachio cultivation in Italy
Pistachio cultivation in Italy was successfully introduced, around the 10th century AD, by the Arabs, who managed to get the plant to take root in Sicily thanks to the grafting technique. Over the centuries the pistachio plant has had particular development in Italy especially in Sicily in the Agrigento and Catania areas, where it has taken root more successfully at the foot of the Etna volcano, in the Bronte area.
The Bronte green pistachio is among the most appreciated and well-known typical Sicilian products all over the world, since 2009 it has become a protected designation of origin variety and is also protected by the Slow Food Presidium certification. Bronte pistachios are not only excellent to be enjoyed natural, but from their processing excellent products are obtained which enhance the unmistakable flavor of the fruit.