Our latest podcast episode on pistachios: The making of a food trend

Suddenly, pistachios are everywhere. This nut has always been around, but it was generally a supporting player relegated to the snack aisle or featured in a niche ice cream flavor beloved by some and ignored by many others. Then, a few years ago, the ads started: splashy, bright green, celebrity-studded print placements and commercials designed to grab your attention. Soon after that came the trend pieces, then the viral pistachio chocolates and pastries and coffees and butters in your social media feeds. Pistachio’s popularity seemed to come out of nowhere.

But every food (and every food trend) has a story. Pistachios have a long and important place in Middle Eastern cuisine, where they dazzle in dishes both savory and sweet. They also have a history in this country that is tied to U.S.-Iranian relations, leading to a modern agricultural tale based in California, where monoculture crops of the nut have altered the landscape and the water table.

In order to crack open the pistachio trend for our latest podcast episode, we talked to an Iranian American baker, a food and agriculture researcher and journalist, as well as a former Whole Foods VP. Together they help us find answers: Where do pistachios come from? What’s their story? And why are they suddenly everywhere?