They asked for what?! – A pistachio nut shelling machine

Cold cases; unusual items; and annoyingly incomplete stories.

#4 the pistachio nut shelling machine

Shelled pistachio nuts.
Delicious, but hidden.

“I am looking for a pistachio shell remover or the plan for one," wrote the owner of a small pistachio orchard in Austrailia, "NOT a pistachio de-huller that removes skins.”

We were later told by a man who knew his nuts that an "economical machine to shell small quantities (i.e., less than a few hundred tons per annum) of pistachio nuts" simply did not exist.

But how could he be so sure? we wondered.

"Do not take my word for this," he said, "you could also spend ten years of searching and visiting the pistachio countries of the world to reach the same conclusion."

It was another brief glimpse of a bigger story - of a man roaming the planet with a pocket full of dreams... and nuts.

Click here for some fun facts about pistachios (in China it is known as 'the happy nut').

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