The intense gentle sweet flavor and grassy aroma that comes from the mineral rich volcanic soil is the distinctive feature of this pistachio. In fact, the Bronte is situated in Province of Catania in the Southwest slope of Etna Volcano.

As it is proven by the first written evidence, mid-fourteenth century, Arabs imported pistachio in Sicily. First,  only in the Agrigento and Caltanissetta areas and then in Bronte.
The dialect word “frastuca” stems from the Arab word “fustuaq” that means pistachio.
This species of pistachio has a strong emerald color, this is why it’s defined the green gold of Sicily.
Apprehensively, every two years from the end of August till the beginning of September pistachios are harvested. The cultivation in this area is a slow and lengthy process which requires much dedication and hard work. For 30 days, villages are deserted as young and old people still go in the holdings, shaking the branches, collecting up the precious fruit & lovingly allowing them to dry.

Pistachios are considered to be a complete energy cocktail. In traditional medicine is common practice to use the infusion of the bark as a refreshing drink and in the past they were considered even an aphrodisiac fruit.

Pistachio contains calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, vitamins, amino acids and only 600 calories  every 100gr. This makes pistachio a really healthy food.

In Sicily, pistachio production is limited. This makes pistachios a prized specialty. According to tradition this pistachio variety is especially used for sweet products like ice cream, cream spread or biscuits).

It is used also for salty recipes like salty pistachio pesto on pasta.