Worth shelling out for

The very best pistachios might be costly, but they make a suitably sumptuous pudding and gazpacho

Pistachios make a sumptuous pudding and gazpacho, says Simon Hopkinson

Moreish is a weak description for wickedly delicious pistachios

ALTHOUGH most of us may occasionally enjoy pistachios as a baked, salted nut, a wickedly delicious snack (moreish is a weak description here) with shell still attached and busted by heat, it should also be known that this diminutive, green kernel is also there for the imaginative cook—albeit one prepared to spend a little cash.

All fine-quality shelled nuts are relatively costly purchases, but pistachios will usually trump the rest; macadamia nuts come a close second. A small group of Iranian purveyors near me in west London sells the very best of pistachios in many forms, with small packets of the brightest-green, skinned and slivered kernels kept cool in a small refrigerated unit at the back of the shop. These will set you back almost £5 for just 80g, but they are special indeed.

Whenever and wherever I buy good nuts, once home, I pop them directly into the freezer— the surest way to keep them fresh. Furthermore, if you’re going to grind them to a powder, a frozen nut will process that much better than one at room temperature. The chill prevents them from quickly becoming an oily paste from the whizz of the processor’s blade.

The Nutribullet is now my gadget of choice for finely grinding nuts and I also put both the blade base and canister to chill (but not the machine).

I should further add here that the most delicious and crunchy way to consume those salted pistachios in their busted shells is after placing them in the freezer for about an hour. Who knew?