Where can I buy good Turkish Pistachios
I love Turkish Pistachios (antep) and have always bought Zenobia off the net but they have now doubled in price and the last batch i ordered off of nutsonthenet were mixed largely with California pistachios. When I complained to the company about it they told me that was impossible and did nothing about it. I can no longer deal with a company that has zero customer service and are trying to dupe me. So does anyone know where I can buy good Turkish pistachios either on the net or in the NY metro area?
-
Try to hit your local levantine grocery, as a good shop run by Lebanese/Syrian/Palestinian grocer will probably carry pistachios from Aleppo, which is right across the border from Antep. Antep is a culinary capital in Turkey which shares and echoes much of the same terroir and culinary heritage of Aleppo, which historically has been a much more prominent and influential city than Antep. Gaziantep (the more modern name of Antep) used to be a backwater of Aleppo back in the days of the Ottoman empire, it has grown in importance in the past few decades.
Antep's two great specialties are pistachio-based baklava (one of the best in the world) and kebab, specialties in which Aleppo also excels. The city of Antep has literally dozens of baklava shops, many of which are outstanding.
Back on the subject of pistachios, try them raw (which is a regional specialty in aleppo and antep), if you can find them in season (late summer), quite a treat! They come wrapped in a soft loose reddish-pink pod. It's worth seeking them out, I'm sure you can find them in NYC/NJ.
-
I've been buying Zenobia pistachio nuts at Sahadi's on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn Heights for years. It's the only pistachio brand I'll buy. Years ago I sent a letter to Zenobia complimenting them on their nuts............and to my surprise......and delight, they sent me a box of several bags of Zenobia pistachio nuts!!!
-
I go to Hookah Nuts. They're on 5th Avenue in Brooklyn. Lots of nice little Middle Eastern Specialty stores in Bay Ridge.
›2 Replies -
I agree with your comments on the lack of customer service at Zenobia. I sent them several email comments regarding the declining quality of some of the TurkPs we ordered -- never got a response. www.nuts-to-you.com is a store with several locations in Philadelphia. Currently, they are going for $11.99/pound, but we have purchased a 20 pound box (bulk) as a group order for several folks in the office (2-3 pounds each) and got them for around $7.50/pound. They will ship. Good luck. And I agree with you that getting CaliforniaPs in the back is certainly not a "Bonus"....
-
Nuts Online has two varieties of Turkish pistachios: Antep and Siirt. I have tried both and prefer the Antep. Anteps are the Kumamoto of the pistachio family - super concentrated pistachio goodness in a tiny package.
›5 Replies-
-
re: GIOny
I have ordered from them five or six times now. Strong communication and quick service. Quality products and packaging and I feel the prices are fair.
The salted in-shell sunflower seeds are the best I have ever had. Their "corn nuts" are really good as well and I just noticed that they have a new flavor - Wasabi. I order both the colossal and Antep pistachios from them and will continue to do so in the future. For me, the Siirt pistachios had a somewhat soapy flavor and soft texture that I did not care for. The Anteps are fantastic but can be difficult on your fingertips and nails as they have an extremely narrow opening between the shells. I use half a shell from a previously eaten nut to pry open the shells of the batch I am eating.
You won't be disappointed ordering from them.
-
-
-
-
re: penthouse pup
roxlet
May 9, 2010 11:11 AM
No, I haven't but I've tried the shop in White Plains that carries both Turkish, and when markets allow, Iranian pistachios. They still don't compare to Zenobia, IMO. The only pistachios that are comparable, and probably better, are the Sicilian, but those are prohibitively expensive.
-
re: penthouse pup
GIOny
May 9, 2010 03:04 PM
No, I haven't tried Kalustyan's, where are they located?
roxlet, I have always loved the Zenobia nuts also but I was so disappointed in my last batch and the way nuts on net handled the problem that I feel there must be something better. I got more then quite a few of the California pistachios thrown into my Turkish bag, I don't mind if they want to charge me California prices but they are now charging $81.00 for two - 2 1/2 pound bags, they use to charge less then this for two 5 pound bags not long ago, their prices have doubled. I figured because they are right in the Bronx, maybe the farmers market on Arthur Ave would have them but I couldn't find any.
I just found Kalustyan's on line and they even sell Zenobia and seem to have better prices then nutson the net. but I will still check online to see what else they have available.-
re: GIOny
roxlet
May 9, 2010 11:33 PM
Yes, when I looked on the web site, the prices were significantly higher than I remember from a couple of years ago when I used to buy them regularly. I had to stop -- it was like an addiction! Sadly, I don't know of any pistachios that are better than the Zenobia Turkish ones. They are how I measure all others. What do you mean when you say that there were California pistachios thrown into your Turkish bag. You mean literally -- like when you opened the sealed bag of pistachios??? You don't mean that they threw in some California pistachios as a bonus? That is so weird.
-
-
-
roxlet
May 9, 2010 10:09 AM
I think that the best pistachios are the Zenobia ones, hands down. I've been a pistachio-o-phile since childhood and the Zenobia ones taste so much better than any of those giant tasteless ones that come from California. I order them from this web site:
http://www.nutsonthenet.com/They used to carry the Zenobias at Stew Leonards, but they haven't been there in a long time.
