“Pistachio nuts, the red ones, cure any problem.”
Paula Danziger, American author
TODAY IN FOOD HISTORY
~ National Pistachio Day
1852 John Harvey Kellogg was born. A surgeon, vegetarian and health food pioneer, while superintendent at the Battle Creek Sanitarium, he developed the first breakfast cereals for his patients, Granose (flaked wheat) and toasted corn flakes. His brother, William K. Kellogg founded the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Co. to produce cornflakes for sale to the public.
1895 Michael Joseph Owens of Toledo, Ohio patented an automatic glass blowing machine that could make multiple bottles at the same time. A big advance in bottle making. He founded the Owens Bottle Machine Co., and the Libbey-Owens Glass Company.
1903 Richard Jordan Gatling died. Before inventing the Gatling Gun, he developed a machine for sowing rice, wheat, and other grains, and invented a steam plow.
1928 Fats Domino (Antoine Domino) was born in New Orleans. One of rock-and-roll's earliest stars, one of his early hits was 'Blueberry Hill' which reached number 2 in 1956.
1945 Bob Hite of the music group 'Canned Heat' was born.
DID YOU KNOW?
PISTACHIO NUTS
The Pistachio nut is a member of the Cashew family, which also includes sumac, mango and poison ivy.
Pistachios have been cultivated for over 7,000 years and are mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible. They are popular in Greece, and are used there in many pastries.
Legend has it that the Queen of Sheba decreed pistachios an exclusively royal food, going so far as to forbid commoners from growing the nut for personal use. Nebuchadnezzar, the ancient king of Babylon, had pistachio trees planted in his fabled hanging gardens.
In the first century A.D., the Emperor Vitellius debuted this prized nut in his capital city of Rome.
According to Moslem legend, the pistachio nut was one of the foods brought to Earth by Adam.
Pistachio production in the U.S. was 346 million pounds in 2004. The U.S. is the world's 2nd largest producer of pistachios, Iran is the largest.
Pistachios are one of only two nuts mentioned in the Bible (Genesis 43:11) the other being almonds.
Pistachios are also called the 'green almond' and are known as the 'smiling nut' in Iran and the 'happy nut' in China.
Pistachio nuts became available in the U.S. for the first time in 1880.
In the U.S. pistachios were dyed red to disguise imperfections in the shells and to make the nuts stand out in vending machines.
Pistachio Ice Cream was created by James W. Parkinson in the 1940s.
The Moghul Emperor, Akbar the Great, hosted lavish banquets befitting his royal status. The chickens to be killed for the banquet were fed pistachio nuts for 6 to 8 weeks before the banquet, to add a delicious flavour to the chicken meat.
