|
The
Bible:
Hosea was a minor Hebrew prophet who lived during the eighth
century B.C in the kingdom of Israel. The Old Testament mentions
the nut in Hosea 14:8 "I am like a green fir tree. From me
is thy fruit found." Many Biblical scholars believe that this
tree was the stone pine and the edible fruits referred to
was the pine nut.
Ancient
Greece and Rome: The ancient Greeks and Romans appreciated
the taste of the pine nuts. Among the Greeks, the stone pine
was a tree sacred to the god Neptune. Records exist that mention
consumption of pine nuts around the beginning of the Christian
era. The kernels were eaten, preserved in honey, during Pliny's
time.
Pompei:
Archaeologists have found pine nuts among household foodstuffs
in the ruins of Pompeii, destroyed by the violent eruption
of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. The Roman Legions carried pine
nuts among their provisions, evidenced by pine nut shells
uncovered in refuse dumps of Roman encampments in Britain
which date from the middle of the first century.
©
2007 Pinonnuts.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
|
