This evergreen tree has an umbrella shaped crown and can reach heights of up to 25 metres. Its nuts grow inside cones, which in turn grow from the branches. Each cone holds between 50 and 100 nuts, each one of these nuts having a hard outer shell encasing the kernel. As the cones are firmly attached to the branches even when ripe, there are no suitable machines for harvesting, making manual picking the only option available. This makes the pine nut an expensive product, requiring very careful sourcing (especially as not all species of pine trees

produce edible kernels). Pine kernels have a creamy white colour and an exquisite slightly resinous flavour. They are widely used in prepared foods, with pesto (produced by blending pine nuts with basil, garlic and olive oil) being the one condiment that greatly enhanced pine nuts popularity. Pine kernels are also used in a variety of sweet and savoury snacks, bakery products, and salads.