# Unsalted pistachios? WTHey? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 10, 2008, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsalted-pistachios-wthey/433052 "2008-01-10T23:40:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kuboydal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecb155/32.png) [@Kuboydal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kuboydal)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsalted-pistachios-wthey/433052/1 "2008-01-10T23:40:42Z")
I just tucked into a leftover XMAS treat and found that the beautiful little pistachios in the bag were unsalted. This makes them tastes strangely like… nothing. I liken this to fat free sour cream and alcohol free beer. Anyone else have any surprisingly utterly pointless and disappointing food products? (furthermore, what do I do with 'em?) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsalted-pistachios-wthey/433052/2 "2008-01-10T23:47:22Z")
‘No salt’ kettle chips. I usually like unsalted potato chips (crisps to me) - I normally throw away the little blue bag from the pack of Salt & Shake, and just taste the potato. But the unsalted kettle chips were even thicker and harder than usual - it was like eating pieces of broken glass that taste like burnt potato. Can’t imagine what unsalted pistachios must taste like on their own - I think the salted ones taste almost like cheese. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsalted-pistachios-wthey/433052/3 "2008-01-10T23:55:33Z")
My boss, who is Persian, regularly turns up with bags of unsalted **lime** pistachios or\*\* chili lime\*\* pistachios, that she gets from a Persian store. They make salted ones a waste of time ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsalted-pistachios-wthey/433052/4 "2008-01-11T03:41:43Z")
Vegetarian haggis, made from oatmeal. And somehow, they managed to make it as vile-tasting as regular haggis. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsalted-pistachios-wthey/433052/5 "2008-01-11T03:53:57Z")
I bought some unsalted pistachios by mistake, too, and they are just flavorless. I’m going to mix them in with some salted mixed nuts and hope they pick up some saltiness by cohabitating. ---
**Author:** ![Panurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsalted-pistachios-wthey/433052/6 "2008-01-11T09:50:06Z")
I have had unroasted, unsalted pistacios. They are almost impossible to open, and when you finally manage to; the nut is not only unsalted, but kinda soft, too. That was up there with the steamed (again unsalted) peanuts I had in India. Soft. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsalted-pistachios-wthey/433052/7 "2008-01-11T10:12:16Z")
[QUOTE=panache45] Vegetarian haggis, made from oatmeal. And somehow, they managed to make it as vile-tasting as regular haggis. [/QUOTE] Haggis is more oats then anything else and flipping gorgeous. If you thought haggis was vile why would you try the vegetarian version? ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsalted-pistachios-wthey/433052/8 "2008-01-11T13:53:30Z")
The growing trend of fast food restaurants of offering unsalted nacho chips. Taco Hell started doing it a couple of years ago. Swiss Chalet introduced a rather nice artichoke dip with pita wedges and nachos recently – and the nachos there, too, are unsalted. Honestly, what the hell? Nacho chips without salt taste like deep fried corn oil. Is this in the name of reducing sodium? I can think of plenty of areas where the sodium could be reduced or replaced with an alternative without seriously impacting flavour. Nachos belong to the “salt delivery vehicle” category, though, along with saltines, pretzels, cocktail peanuts, Triscuits, potato chips, and other such snack foods. If you remove the salt from any one of these, you turn them into “delivery vehicles,” which is fairly apt because you might as well be eating a cube van. Unsalted trail mix falls roughly into this category, too. I have a hell of a hard time finding salted trail mix these days. I had a Vietnamese friend who loved boiled peanuts. Boiled, as in, it-the-shell, unsalted, boiled. They were disturbingly soft and … _juicy_. ---
**Author:** ![Kuboydal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecb155/32.png) [@Kuboydal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kuboydal)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsalted-pistachios-wthey/433052/9 "2008-01-11T15:03:33Z")
Boiled peanuts are meant to be too salty. The only antidote is cold beer. This leads to a desire for bioled peanuts, which, being too salty, require beer. The beer tends to relieve symptoms of salt exposure and you realize the joy of ultimate contrast and so you get more peanuts. They are too salty. You reach for beer. Peanuts. Beer. Peanuts Beerpeanutsbeerpeantsbeerpeanutsbeeer KAPOW! enlightenment and understanding of the interrealtionship of all things. ZAM naptime Next Day:repeat GEe whiz, I miss summer. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsalted-pistachios-wthey/433052/10 "2008-01-11T18:47:10Z")
I like unsalted pistachios. They taste like pistachios, not salt. Since I don’t eat a lot of salt or salted junk food, salted pistachios are vilely salty. Why not just eat a fistful of salt? In addition, unsalted pistachios are better for a lot of recipes since they’re not generally salted in the regions where they’re used for cooking. ---
**Author:** ![Kuboydal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecb155/32.png) [@Kuboydal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kuboydal)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsalted-pistachios-wthey/433052/11 "2008-01-11T22:39:12Z")
Sorry,they taste like dirt. Salt releases the flavor. It liberates the taste. Salt is the great emancipator of all that is good in pistachios. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsalted-pistachios-wthey/433052/12 "2008-01-11T23:21:28Z")
I like unsalted pistachios, too. Besides, I read they were the staple food of ancient Sumerians, along with olives or dates or something. So you can get in touch with the dawn of civilization while you munch. Or pretend, leastaways. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsalted-pistachios-wthey/433052/13 "2008-01-11T23:21:38Z")
[QUOTE=Shoshana] I like unsalted pistachios. They taste like pistachios, not salt. Since I don’t eat a lot of salt or salted junk food, salted pistachios are vilely salty. Why not just eat a fistful of salt? In addition, unsalted pistachios are better for a lot of recipes since they’re not generally salted in the regions where they’re used for cooking. [/QUOTE] I agree, **Shoshana**. 'stachios are one of the most highly addictive of all nuts, and most salted ones are salted to DEATH. I get them plain, and sprinkle them with a very little salt. The best ones, IMO, come from Trader Joe’s. ---
**Author:** ![FourPaws](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e0b2c6/32.png) [@FourPaws](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FourPaws)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsalted-pistachios-wthey/433052/14 "2008-01-11T23:27:03Z")
[QUOTE=teela brown] I agree, **Shoshana**. 'stachios are one of the most highly addictive of all nuts, and most salted ones are salted to DEATH. I get them plain, and sprinkle them with a very little salt. The best ones, IMO, come from Trader Joe’s. [/QUOTE] Ditto. If i want salt, I want it to the level I want, not what they desire to add. Sometimes I may want just a little, other times, a lot. I want it to be my choice. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsalted-pistachios-wthey/433052/15 "2008-01-11T23:59:12Z")
> [@](#): > > Sorry,they taste like dirt. What’s not to like about dirt? Re: Adding salt, I received a tiny sampler of 4 chi-chi gourmet salts for Hannukah, and I’ve got to say that they’re very distinct from each other and interesting to try on foods like unsalted pistachios, avocado, apples, etc.