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Italian Food Importer
Since 1979

The Pistachio Spread Guide

Paste, cream, and how to read what is in the jar.

Pistachio Spread

01Paste or cream?

They sound alike. They are different products.

The ingredient

Pure paste

Pistachios, ground. Nothing else.
  • Unsweetened: you control the sugar.
  • The flavor base for gelato, pastry, sauces and fillings.
  • Behaves like nut butter: oil can rise to the top, so stir it in.
  • A muted olive green, not a bright one.
The spread

Cream

Paste blended with sugar, fat and milk powder.
  • Sweet and ready to spread, fill or swirl.
  • The pistachio share ranges from about 20% to 45% and up.
  • That share is the whole story. It decides how much flavor and color the spread has.
  • Read the label to know which one you have.

02What the percentage means

It is how much of the jar is actual pistachio. The rest is sugar, oil, milk powder and flavor.

Pistachio
Sugar, oil, milk powder and flavor
Cream
20%
Cream
About one-fifth pistachio
Cream
35%
Cream
About one-third pistachio
Cream
45%
Cream
Nearly half pistachio
Pure paste
100%
Pure paste
All pistachio
A higher percentage means more pistachio in the jar.
Pistachio is what gives a spread its flavor and its color. Reading the percentage tells you how much of it you are getting.

03How to read the label

Every jar tells you what is inside. Here is where to look.

Sample label
Pistachio Cream
1
Pistachios 40%
2
Ingredients, largest first
Pistachios, sugar, sunflower oil, skimmed milk powder, sunflower lecithin.
3
Contains: milk, pistachios (tree nuts).
4
Made in Italy
1
The percentage
How much of the jar is pistachio. A higher number means more pistachio.
2
The order of ingredients
Ingredients are listed from most to least, so the first one is the largest part of the jar. Added colorings or flavorings, when used, appear here too.
3
Allergens
Pistachios are tree nuts. Creams often contain milk as well.
4
Where it was made
“Made in Italy” says where the jar was filled. It does not always say where the pistachios grew, so check for the origin of the nuts.

01Our pistachio spreads

Every jar, with how much pistachio is inside.

04Real pistachio is not neon

Natural pistachio paste is darker and duller than most people expect.

Raw kernel
Vivid green, before roasting and grinding
Pure paste
Muted olive green
Deeper roast
Khaki to brown-green
Cream
Paler olive, softened by sugar and milk
Bright green
Usually added color, or a paste blended with other nuts
Why it turns olive
Roasting and grinding change the green pigment in the nut, shifting it from bright green toward olive and khaki. The darker the roast, the duller the color.
What a bright green means
A vivid, uniform green usually points to added color, often chlorophyll-based, or a blend bulked out with almond. Check the ingredient list to be sure.
A darker color is natural
Pure paste is 100% pistachio with nothing added, so what you see is the nut itself. A little oil on top is natural. Stir it in.

05Which one is right for you?

Match the spread to what you are making.

Pure paste

For gelato, pastry and sauces
  • Unsweetened, so you set the sweetness.
  • Blends into batters, creams and savory sauces.
  • Works as the flavor base of a recipe.

Cream

For spreading, filling and swirling
  • Sweet and ready to use from the jar.
  • Spread it on toast and croissants, fill cakes and pastries, or swirl it into desserts.

Cream with crunch

For Dubai-style bars
  • Cream mixed with crisp kataifi pastry.
  • Made for chocolate bar fillings and desserts that need a crunch.

Browse pistachio products at manzofood.com.

Percentages shown are examples that explain how to read a label. Always check the jar you are buying. Imported by Manzo Food Sales, Miami, since 1979. manzofood.com
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