La Platicona Habla: Tastes, Passions and Pursuits

If you are lucky enough to live in southern Colorado or northern New Mexico, then you are already well aware of the bounty of pinion this year. For those of you reading this from lands beyond the southwest, please let me be the first to boast about this rare delight. Driving down I-25 between Las Vegas (NM) and Santa Fe, one may encounter an endless line of parked cars on the side of the highway appearing all but abandoned. If you are wondering why these cars are there, then you have never "gone to the pinion." Every few years (about 3) pine trees in the southwest are blessed with enough precipitation to yield pine nuts from the pine cone. While many of you have collected pine cones for silly crafts and Christmas ornaments, Mexicans are out in droves shaking all the nutty goodness out of these cones. "Going to the pinion" is an activity I loathed and loved as a girl. My father would pack his truck with tarps, buckets, and a cooler full of food. My sisters and I would sit in the truck while my dad meandered along forest roads looking for the fullest pine trees in the forest far away from other would-be pinion hunters. We would unload our equipment and tie bandanas around our heads. My dad arranged the tarp on the ground around the base of a tree and climbed halfway up in order to shake the tree top. Pine needles, cones, branches, bird nests, and eventually pine nuts came raining down on the tarp. We picked up each pine nut by hand and threw it into the buckets. When we finished with the tarp, we removed it and continued foraging around for pine nuts on the forest floor. This outdoor activity went on all day as long as there was light. We would go home, my mom would wash the sap out of our hair, and my dad would wash and prepare the pinion. He roasted the pinion on sheet pans in the oven. After the pinion cooked, my dad bathed the pinion in a salt bath and laid them over a cotton cloth on the kitchen table to dry. The next morning, we would all wake up extra early to start snacking on the fruits of our grueling labor. If you are still reading this and wondering why Mexicans are hunting around for pine nuts in the forest, all I can say as that this activity is unique to the southwest among both Native Americans and Mexicans alike. Also, if you are wondering why pine nuts cost about $10 - $15 per pound, now you know. So, if you are driving along the highway and notice a fertile pine tree calling your name, stop, stoop, and pick. P.S. don't pick a "smart ball" - it tastes like s***!

Labels: harvest, New Mexico, traditional