Pine nuts

webbo2, May 6, 3:38pm
This isn't exactly a recipe but just wondered... I've recently had a bitter taste at the back of my mouth when I eat. Using 'google' to self diagose! I discovered other people who had experienced this put it down to eating pine nuts. Sure enough the day defore I had eaten some. Just wondered if anyone else had ever had this experience. Would love to hear.
amazing_grace, May 6, 3:43pm
Pregnancy does that too...
webbo2, May 6, 3:51pm
I certainly hope not in my case :)
amazing_grace, May 6, 3:54pm
LOL... not sure about the pine nut thing
webbo2, May 6, 5:45pm
The pine nuts tasted yuk too, only ate them because they cost a fortune and didn't like to throw them away. I've never eaten them on their own (salted) before so didn't know if that's how they always tasted.
buzzy110, May 6, 6:46pm
They were probably rancid. I only buy nuts that come in vacuum sealed bags. I store all my pine nuts, and every other nut for that matter, either in the fridge, or if I have bulk, in the deep freeze. Have eaten a lot of pine nuts in my time and never experienced any aftertaste, other than the one that says to me, "go on, have some more, those were yum".

Edited to clarify. Nuts can go rancid quite rapidly once removed from shells so it is not beyond the bounds of logic that even freshly bought nuts, can be old and rancid. Walnuts are a prime example of this. The difference in taste between a freshly cracked walnut and a bought nut is the difference between chalk and cheese.
webbo2, May 6, 8:15pm
Yes good point buzzy110. They could well have been rancid now I think about it. They were out of the bulk bins. Although i did notice they didn't taste very nice but I didn't know what they were meant to taste like. It wasn't until the following evening and I thought the lamb chops I'd cassarolled were bitter and blamed either the new tomato paste, or the bad red wine I'd used in cooking. 2 days later things still tasting bitter.
elliehen, May 6, 8:26pm
Because pine nuts are so expensive (and the trees planted locally for public wild food foraging haven't grown to maturity yet), I sometimes use sunflower seeds in recipes that call for pinenuts. It's a completely different seed of course, but does give a similar gently crunchy texture.
lilyfield, May 6, 9:52pm
I always use sunflower seeds instead. The price of pine nuts is not worth the rather bland taste of them.
annie.nz, May 7, 12:11am
If I want to use pine nuts, I get the Alisons Choice ones from New World, and only buy what I will need, since they do go rancid really quickly. I find the AC ones are the freshest I have been able to find in Wellington, including the ones you get in small packets from various outlets, including the specialist Mediterranean delis.

Smell the bin before you buy them - they should smell bland and slightly sweet - any tang to the smell isn't a good thing. If you're not sure, buy 5 or 6 (ignore the looks at the checkout), try them, and if good, go back and get more.

I really only use them for classic Italian recipes, and in the turkey stuffing at Xmas.
prendy1, May 7, 1:29am
Also, pinenuts are really only nice when toasted, they're not great raw. Whether this contributes to the bitter taste I can't say...
rog.e, Apr 8, 9:18pm
It is the Turpentime (yes, like in the bottles of turps in hardware shops for paint thinners, cleanups etc. ) in them that creates that horrible taste for me. Can't stand it. Fried or roasted ones are not quite so bad.
V