Giant, South American pine nuts
Who knows what these are? Easy right? They’re pine nuts …in a weirdly small bowl.
Pine nuts in a small bowl?
Aha! But look again!
Massive pine nuts! Or Pinhões (sing. Pinhão) as they known here in Brazil. That isn’t a grubby thumbnail – I had just spent the last 30 minutes getting these fellows out of their dark brown (and rather troublesome) shells.
Here is what they look like when they are fully clothed:
Here they are in their raw state.
The first time I became aware of these things was a couple of weeks after I had arrived in Rio. My mother-in-law had heard that I liked cooking and one day presented me with a packet of these strange things. I had no idea what they were and so made a risotto instead.
Far more recently I discovered that these things are pine nuts. Really big pine nuts. They grow on these rather magnificent pine trees in the Southern states of Brazil (Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul):
Araucaria angustifolia, the Brazilian Pine or Pine of Paraná.
These mighty trees produce some mighty pine cones:
That’s a whole lot of squirrel fodder… (that’s right Brazilians, we use the ‘F’ word too…). Source: Wikipedia
Pinhões and their little cousins.
So what do you do with these strange things? You boil them in water (I used my trusty Brazilian pressure cooker!) and then remove the tough outer shell. You can buy/make something a bit like a nut-cracker to help with this task, but I just battled away hand-to-hand. It was fiddly and kind of punishing on my poor delicate fingers.
As I peeled these things I became aware that they really reminded me of something else. It took me a while to put my finger on it, but eventually the penny dropped. Chestnuts! They look, smell and taste just like chestnuts (you know, the ones that Nat King Cole enjoyed roasting on an open fire…). I’m convinced that you could substitute these in any recipe that calls for chestnuts. Interestingly I since found that they are traditionally roasted in their shells on stove tops and eaten with mulled wine in winter.
I decided to go for something a little different and made an omelette!
Chopped onions, garlic and pinhão…
Onions, garlic and chopped pinhões. Sizzling.
How fresh are these eggs?! Can’t go wrong when they’re as fresh as this!
Some delicious Emmental cheese. Hmmm, is it time for a new chopping board?
Hmmm, did you really need me to show you how to make an omelette? Sorry about that – I got a bit snap-happy with the camera…
Not bad huh? Possibly the world’s first Pinhão omelette!
Breakfast of champions!
Your omelette is very photogenic !! You cooked the nuts ? That’s new for me. You can toast (“sapecar”) them in a pan too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqfvLdiffzk
Thanks Ana! I did wonder if Brazilians would think an omelette was a strange thing to do with these. I must admit, I can believe there are better things you can do with them! :)
That recipe looks great and toasting them looks much easier! I wish I’d seen this before I spent all that time peeling them by hand!
I see EatGirls are also posting about Pinhão today! Apparently it is that time of year!
I’ve eaten hot dogs with it as well, so I guess there is no problem
Tom,
If you like pinhão perhaps you’d enjoy this bad boy.
http://www.allyoucanteat.com/2011/08/entrevero-com-pinhao/
And you just had to show off the Sabatier again. You two should get a room :-)
Yum, that looks like a hearty, meaty stew. Definitely good for when the temperatures drop below 15 (brrr!).
i LOVE those trees
Nice aren’t they? Look a bit prehistoric don’t you think?
YES! I think you should grow one! I know I’m going to!!
Looks very tasty even though you lost me at “onions and garlic for breakfast”. :)
I might try it (with pine nuts, I guess) for a light dinner…
Hee hee – I should have put the ‘breakfast’ in inverted commas – it was one of those weekend breakfasts I enjoy at around midday. If I’m completely honest with you, I think there are better ways you can use these monster pine nuts – I’m thinking next time I might try using them for
1) Stuffing (like a chestnut stuffing);
2) Pesto (as with Ana’s link above)
3) Herb crust (for something like salmon)
I was wondering what the hell these are….so excited to try them now! (this has the makings of dessert written all over it for me)
Ha ha! Always with the sweet Eva! ;) Hope you let us know how it goes!
Apparently down in Paraná they say “Festa Junina sem pinhão é como feijõada sem feijão!” (or something like that…) so we picked the right time of year!
I love these. Yes, it is that time of the year! At my grandparents house, everyday we had pinhāo sapecado – stovetop roasted. Great post, gonna try the omelet!
Abraço
Hi Luciano! Great to have you over! I have to say: now that I’ve seen all the other ways pinhão can/should be cooked, I think maybe my omelette idea was a bit silly! But, then there are some omelette recipes that include chestnuts), so maybe it isn’t that silly! :)
Abraço!
Not silly at all! I will make it and soon looks/tastes delicious.
Still haven’t tried the pão de queijo recipe, but the polvilho azedo has been bought!
Ah cool! I hope both go well. I love making pão de queijo and then cutting them open and adding extra goodies (e.g. ham, cheese, salami, etc)! Such a tasty snack when friends come round :)
Where can I find it in NYC???
Hi Odalisca – isn’t NYC the city that has everything? Heh heh, I’m sure you’ll find it in there somewhere. Or have fun trying at least :)
Alternatively, you could use this as a good excuse to come on down to Brazil and try it direct from the source!
how can i get a sample of your pine nuts from Brasil.
Hi Mike – funnily enough you are the second person who has asked me that in the last couple of weeks. I am looking into this and would be happy to let you know when I find a supplier – can you send me an email? eatrio.net at gmail dot com?
Hi, I just love Pinhão!! Do you know where we can buy it here in the US??
I’m looking for it!!!
Thanks
Hey Dani! I have to say I don’t know of any places in the States that sell them. In fact I’ve been trying to organise a way of export pinhão to a chocolate producer in Italy for the last 6 months… Maybe these guys could help?
http://www.pai.pt/pinex-sociedade-produtora-e-exportadora-de-pinhao-lda-santa-maria-do-castelo-7580-206/1/
Buy all you want at SEA.BRA market in Parkland Florida. Less that $10 per pound
Do you know where I can buy them here in USA?
I’m from Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) and I really miss this. We usually just cook in a pressure pan and put some salt on eat and drink a cup of wine or Chimarrão (yerba Mate).
It’s so good and I’m really missing this food, that we usually eat during the fall and winter time :)
If you know where I can find this Pinhões to buy, let me know, Please?
Thank you!
Hi Hellen – I’m afraid I have no idea whether anyone is exporting them anywhere. A year or two ago a chocolatier from Italy was asking me the same thing and I’m afraid I didn’t find anything useful. Sorry! Hmmm, maybe you’ve stumbled upon a business opportunity? :)
hi there! I am from the south of Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul. So I eat pinhão since a little kid, here is a tip to get the pinhão out of its shell: after you cook it well on the pressure pan, you take it out of the hot water, wait a few seconds until it is cool enough and bite the pinhão on its “back” and it will easily come out of the shell. We usually eat it by itself. Not many recipes are made with it. I was searching for what is this weirds pine nuts and found out that is just a really small mini pinhāo :) nice post! Thanks
Hey Lucas! I’ve been eating quite a few pinhão recently and I really like them. I cook them like you say – in the pressure cooker. The one problem with the method where you bite them is when you have one which is podre (rotten) – yuck! I saw a cool video recently where a guy uses a facão to cut the back of the fat section of the pinhão – then you can see if it is fresh or rotten. Much better! :D
Cool, I have never seen this method with a facão, will look for it.
About the “bite on the back” rotten issue, just turn the “exit” side to the other side, as it will go the other way out, not directly inside your mouth. After the bite, pull it out with your fingers, this way you can easily check if it rotten or not.
That’s how I do it. :D
Ha ha! You’re a professional Lucas! :D Now I’ll do it that way too!
Hi, you’ve really got me curious as to how the nuts taste compared to real pine nuts. Technically this plant by common name is a pine, but it is not a true pine, it is Araucaria agustifolia or Monkey Puzzle tree. However it is a conifer and it is an evergreen. Should we name them monkey nuts or is puzzle nuts more appropriate? I’d go for the former ;) Those are some pretty unusual cones and packed with lots of fruit (in the loose sense of the word). Thanks for posting, it’s very interesting!
Hey Moto – thanks for your comment! They taste a lot like chestnuts to me, especially when roasted. As you say, the tree is Araucaria angustifolia – generally, Monkey Puzzle is the name given to close relative Araucaria araucana. But I like the name ‘Puzzle Nuts’ – I’ll start spreading the word and hopefully it will catch on ;)
Hello Tom, The name is actually Dan Pecquex and Motozappa is my handle I suppose. Anyway, that’s neat that you picked that up “angustifolia” vs.”araucana”. Do you have a horticultural background? Funny about Puzzle Nuts and you spreading the word. It would be amazing if it happened to catch on or am I underestimating you ;) All the best and fantastic blog!
Aha! I just saw your comments on the Eat Rio Facebook page. Hi Dan – I enjoyed your Sugarloaf tracks! (y)
I do enjoy growing plants etc, but my background is zoology and bird ecology. And I can be a bit pedantic which probably explains why I noticed it ;) Thanks for dropping by!
Padantic is good, we wouldn’t want to say the leopard gecko has lost its spots or would that be its color ;)
I’m glad you liked the Sugarloaf Express track! Looking forward to seeing you around these parts….
Interesting tidbit I stumbled upon recently:
https://www.wired.com/2017/01/nayan-khanolkar-majestic-leopard-takes-selfie-streets-mumbai/