Pistachio Amygdalota

Soft, chewy Greek macaroons made not with the usual almond but with the prized green pistachios of Aegina, ground with sugar and egg white, scented with rose water, shaped into little pears, and dusted thickly in icing sugar

Origin: Aegina, Greece

From the journey of Pistachio.

Amygdalota are the soft, marzipan-like macaroons of the Greek islands, traditionally made from ground almonds (amygdala), egg white, and sugar, scented with rose water or orange-blossom water, and beloved as a festive sweet at weddings, baptisms, and the great feast days. On Aegina, the pistachio island, the cooks make them with their own most famous crop instead: the vivid green Aegina pistachios are ground to a paste with sugar and bound with whisked egg white into a fragrant dough, shaped by hand into small rounds or the little pears that are the classic island form, baked only briefly so that the inside stays soft and chewy, and rolled while still warm in a thick coating of icing sugar. The result is intensely, greenly pistachio, delicate and perfumed, the nut's flavour entirely undisguised. Pistachio amygdalota fill the windows of the pastry shops of Aegina town and are sold in pretty boxes to the day-trippers who come over from Piraeus for the island's pistachios; they are, with the spoon sweet, the way the island most loves to show off its harvest, and a fixture of the September Fistiki Fest.

Ingredients

The Macaroons

  • 300 g shelled raw pistachios (unsalted), plus extra finely chopped for decoration
  • 200 g caster sugar
  • 2 egg whites
  • 1 tbsp fine semolina (to bind), optional
  • 1 tsp rose water (or orange-blossom water)

To Finish

  • 100 g icing sugar, for rolling and dusting

Method

  1. If you can, blanch the pistachios briefly in boiling water and rub off the skins to keep the colour bright green, then dry them well. Heat the oven to 160°C (fan 140°C) and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
  2. Grind the pistachios with the caster sugar in a food processor to a fine meal. Do not over-process to a paste; stop while it is still sandy, or the nuts will turn oily.
  3. Lightly whisk the egg whites until just frothy, not stiff. Add to the pistachio mixture with the rose water and the semolina, if using, and work to a soft, pliable paste that just holds together. Add a little more egg white if it is too dry, a little more ground pistachio if too wet.
  4. With damp hands, roll walnut-sized pieces of paste into small balls or shape them into little pears. Roll each in icing sugar to coat generously and set on the lined tray, spaced apart. Press a little chopped pistachio into the top of each if you like.
  5. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until just set and very lightly coloured at the base but still soft within. Do not let them brown or dry out.
  6. Cool on the tray for a few minutes, then roll once more in icing sugar while still warm and dust heavily. Cool completely before serving.

Notes

Aegina pistachios give the truest flavour and colour, but any good unsalted raw pistachio works. For the brightest green, seek out skinned (blanched) pistachios or skin them yourself. The macaroons are naturally gluten-free if you omit the semolina (use a little extra ground pistachio or a teaspoon of cornflour to bind instead). Rose water is traditional on the islands; orange-blossom water and a little lemon zest are common alternatives. The same method makes classic almond amygdalota if you swap the pistachios for blanched almonds.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

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Ingredient originTrade or transit route
Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control
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