“,”heading”:””,”fullWindow”:false,”fullBleed”:false,”showFullBleedOnMobile”:false,”headColor”:””,”type”:”html5mobile”,”textColor”:””,”mobileImageUrl”:””,”bgColor”:””,”imageUrl”:””,”registeredOnly”:false,”linkUrl”:””,”aodaTitle”:”tiktok- Roasted Nut Factory “,”internalScroll”:false,”displayStyle”:”small-up”},{“text”:”Founded nearly 20 years ago, the family-run Roasted Nut Factory started out in St. Catharines before moving to Mississauga at 2399 Cawthra Rd. for more space.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”isHeading”:false},{“type”:”ad”,”heading”:”ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW”,”name”:”ArticleFirstBigBox”,”display”:”medium-down”,”pos”:”1″,”interstitial”:true,”sizes”:[[300,250]]},{“text”:”Mohammad Saleh Koussa’s parents do the roasting in the back while he handles the inventory that includes saffron, lemon and black pepper flavoured pistachios and the popular jumbo cashews in bins that line the wall from floor to ceiling. Also available at the shop: dried fruit, jams, spices and olive oils.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”isHeading”:false},{“type”:”textBreakPoint”,”insertAt”:”contentMiddleBreakPoint”},{“text”:”The saffron pistachios have a sweet, floral twist to balance out the salted nuts, while the freshly roasted cashews have a rich, buttery flavour. “,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”isHeading”:false},{“text”:”The self-serve bins are currently off-limits to the public, so Koussa does the scooping. Still, even if most of the shop is sealed off, customers can still see all the bins, along with posters of nuts, twinkle lights and Lebanese flags (homage to the family’s roots). “,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”isHeading”:false},{“text”:”The younger Saleh Koussa has also taken upon itself to spread word of his family’s store through social media, flashy signs by the road and even covering his own car with nut decals. But judging from the steady flow of people lining up, his parents have already cultivated a loyal following. Those who know, know.”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”isHeading”:false},{“type”:”ad”,”heading”:”ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW”,”name”:”ArticleSecondBigBox”,”display”:”medium-down”,”pos”:”2″,”interstitial”:true,”sizes”:[[300,250]]},{“text”:”Read all of the stories in this week’s Toronto food coverage:”,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”isHeading”:false},{“type”:”articleRelatedInlinePrimary”},{“text”:”This Palestinian dairy shop has some of the hardest to find types of cheese, ice cream and ghee“,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”isHeading”:false},{“text”:”This vegetarian Vietnamese restaurant is the place to go for hot pot“,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”isHeading”:false},{“type”:”textBreakPoint”,”insertAt”:”contentEndBreakPoint”},{“text”:”For mouth-watering Iraqi kebabs, you just have to ask“,”type”:”text”,”isParagraph”:true,”isHeading”:false},{“type”:”cta”,”buttonText”:”Sign Up Now”,”buttonLink”:”/emails.html?nsrc=article-inline-recipes”,”description”:”Make cooking easier with our weekly Star Recipes email newsletter, featuring the best advice on what to make right now.”,”title”:”Get more food in your inbox”},{“text”:”Evelyn Kwong is a Star team editor based in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter: @evystadium“,”author”:{“author”:”Evelyn Kwong”,”photo”:{“origImageSize”:”1200×800″,”lastmodified”:2700061000,”url”:”/content/dam/thestar/columnist_logos/Kwong_Evelyn_logo_2015W.jpg”,”sizes”:{“1:1”:{“small”:”https://scceu.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/1637857124_568_Worth-waiting-in-line-Roasted-Nut-Factorys-jumbo-cashews-and.jpg”},”3:2″:{“small”:”https://images.thestar.com/8hxhksYpm-CZRR45N_Xype8TG54=/114×76/smart/https://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/columnist_logos/Kwong_Evelyn_logo_2015W.jpg”,”medium”:”https://images.thestar.com/6uoGZHwRO3vE0TR6u_x6qm-rArw=/330×220/smart/https://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/columnist_logos/Kwong_Evelyn_logo_2015W.jpg”,”large”:”https://images.thestar.com/NA1dph2T1VO-u_PmnA5R57ASmSs=/690×460/smart/https://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/columnist_logos/Kwong_Evelyn_logo_2015W.jpg”},”21:9″:{“large”:”https://images.thestar.com/LTokRxAoDC4ncYJkmncPaJlmfrk=/1080×460/smart/https://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/columnist_logos/Kwong_Evelyn_logo_2015W.jpg”}}},”location”:”Toronto”,”tag”:”kwong_evelyn”,”credit”:”Toronto Star”,”twitterId”:”evystadium”,”email”:”[email protected]”},”authorPageUrl”:”https://www.thestar.com/authors.kwong_evelyn.html”,”type”:”endnote”,”isLast”:true},{“type”:”articleRelatedFooter”},{“type”:”relatedStories”,”relatedStories”:[]},{“type”:”related_topics”,”tags”:[“mississauga”]},{“type”:”shareBar”},{“type”:”trustbar”}],”assetTags”:[“vegan_cuisine”,”roasteries”,”mohammad_saleh_koussa”,”smg_food_wine”,”mississauga”,”smg2_life”,”cashew”,”pistachio”,”toronto_food”,”best_spots_in_mississauga”,”non_timber_forest_products”,”nuts_gta”,”nicrt1″,”itc2″,”tropical_agriculture”,”nut_roasters”,”anacardium”,”arabic_coffee”,”toronto_nuts”,”stareats”,”plants”,”drupes”,”food”,”best_spots_in_toronto”,”kwong_evelyn”,”InHouseArticle_thestar”,”resins”,”food_pilot”],”seoKeywords”:”food pilot,toronto food,food,nut roasters,roasteries,arabic coffee,nuts gta,Toronto nuts,best spots in Toronto,best spots in Mississauga,Mississauga,stareats,NICRT1,ITC2,smg2_life,smg_food_wine,InHouseArticle_thestar”,”excludeInRecommendations”:false,”promo”:[],”tier”:”tier1″,”related”:{“pubdays”:0,”strategy”:1},”personalizationMetadata”:{“subsection”:”Food & Drink”,”description”:”This shop tucked away in a Mississauga plaza makes some of the best roasted nuts in the GTA. “,”hasImage”:true,”section”:”Life”,”asset_id”:”f8aa7bec-24e0-453f-8814-d18e524db15c”,”title”:”Worth waiting in line: Roasted Nut Factory’s jumbo cashews and pistachios are sublime”,”type”:”article”,”thumbor_image”:”{“imageid”:”GT91COUV5.4″,”origImageSize”:”1200×800″,”cropthumb”:”0,0,1200,800″,”lastmodified”:1637849038517,”fullWindowMainart”:true,”forceoriginal”:false,”caption”:”Roasted Nut Factory is run by a Lebanese family who for nearly 20 years have roasted their nuts in-house with a variety of spice combinations.”,”source”:”Toronto Star”,”type”:”image”,”credit”:”Angelyn Francis”,”mainartSize”:”large”,”url”:”/content/dam/thestar/life/food_wine/2021/11/25/worth-waiting-in-line-roasted-nut-factorys-jumbo-cashews-and-pistachios-are-sublime/_1_nut_factory_main.jpg”}”,”published_time”:”2021-11-25T10:00:00Z”,”last_modified”:”2021-11-25T00:56:56.090Z”,”inHouseArticle”:”true”,”image”:”https://images.thestar.com/KjuWjlmLIvSRLZAN5r2iBU1esLM=/1280×1024/smart/filters:cb(1637854931727)/https://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/life/food_wine/2021/11/25/worth-waiting-in-line-roasted-nut-factorys-jumbo-cashews-and-pistachios-are-sublime/_1_nut_factory_main.jpg”,”enableLivechat”:”false”,”images”:”https://www.thestar.com/assets/img/thestar-ribbon.png”,”noShow”:”false”,”enableConversations”:”false”,”abstract”:”This shop tucked away in a Mississauga plaza makes some of the best roasted nuts in the GTA. “,”smg_tag”:”food_wine”,”url”:”https://www.thestar.com/life/food_wine/2021/11/25/worth-waiting-in-line-roasted-nut-factorys-jumbo-cashews-and-pistachios-are-sublime.html”,”site_name”:”thestar.com”,”enableLivechatadmin”:”false”,”publisher”:”https://www.facebook.com/torontostar”,”author_names”:[“Evelyn Kwong”],”authors”:”[{“author”:”Evelyn Kwong”,”photo”:{“origImageSize”:”1200×800″,”lastmodified”:2700061000,”url”:”/content/dam/thestar/columnist_logos/Kwong_Evelyn_logo_2015W.jpg”}}]”,”smg2_tag”:”life”},”seoHead”:”Worth waiting in line: Roasted Nut Factory’s jumbo cashews and pistachios are sublime”,”headline”:”Worth waiting in line: Roasted Nut Factory’s jumbo cashews and pistachios are sublime”,”subheadline”:”This shop tucked away in a Mississauga plaza makes some of the best roasted nuts in the GTA. “,”canonicalUrl”:”https://www.thestar.com/life/food_wine/2021/11/25/worth-waiting-in-line-roasted-nut-factorys-jumbo-cashews-and-pistachios-are-sublime.html”,”seoDescription”:”This shop tucked away in a Mississauga plaza makes some of the best roasted nuts in the GTA. “,”publishedepoch”:1637834400000,”lastmodifiedepoch”:1637801816090,”abstractVisible”:false,”relatedLinks”:[],”paywallMode”:”metered”,”storyuuid”:”f8aa7bec-24e0-453f-8814-d18e524db15c”,”republish”:true,”slideshowid”:”B881600784Z.1″,”lastmodified”:”11 24 2021″,”lastreplicated”:”Thu., Nov. 25, 2021″,”readtime”:2,”breadcrumbs”:[{“label”:”Life”,”relurl”:”/life”,”url”:”https://www.thestar.com/content/thestar/life.html”},{“label”:”Food & Drink”,”relurl”:”/life/food_wine”,”url”:”https://www.thestar.com/content/thestar/life/food_wine.html”}],”authors”:[{“author”:”Evelyn Kwong”,”photo”:{“origImageSize”:”1200×800″,”lastmodified”:2700061000,”url”:”/content/dam/thestar/columnist_logos/Kwong_Evelyn_logo_2015W.jpg”,”sizes”:{“1:1”:{“small”:”https://scceu.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/1637857124_568_Worth-waiting-in-line-Roasted-Nut-Factorys-jumbo-cashews-and.jpg”},”3:2″:{“small”:”https://images.thestar.com/8hxhksYpm-CZRR45N_Xype8TG54=/114×76/smart/https://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/columnist_logos/Kwong_Evelyn_logo_2015W.jpg”,”medium”:”https://images.thestar.com/6uoGZHwRO3vE0TR6u_x6qm-rArw=/330×220/smart/https://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/columnist_logos/Kwong_Evelyn_logo_2015W.jpg”,”large”:”https://images.thestar.com/NA1dph2T1VO-u_PmnA5R57ASmSs=/690×460/smart/https://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/columnist_logos/Kwong_Evelyn_logo_2015W.jpg”},”21:9″:{“large”:”https://images.thestar.com/LTokRxAoDC4ncYJkmncPaJlmfrk=/1080×460/smart/https://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/columnist_logos/Kwong_Evelyn_logo_2015W.jpg”}}},”location”:”Toronto”,”tag”:”kwong_evelyn”,”credit”:”Toronto Star”,”twitterId”:”evystadium”,”email”:”[email protected]”}],”paywall”:true,”urlMetatag”:”https://www.thestar.com/life/food_wine/2021/11/25/worth-waiting-in-line-roasted-nut-factorys-jumbo-cashews-and-pistachios-are-sublime.html”,”numOfParagraphs”:11,”liftigImage”:{“captionPosition”:”overlay”,”fullWindowMainart”:true,”type”:”image”,”imageid”:”GT91COUV5.4″,”origImageSize”:”1200×800″,”cropthumb”:”0,0,1200,800″,”lastmodified”:1637849038517,”forceoriginal”:false,”caption”:”Roasted Nut Factory is run by a Lebanese family who for nearly 20 years have roasted their nuts in-house with a variety of spice combinations.”,”source”:”Toronto Star”,”credit”:”Angelyn Francis”,”url”:”/content/dam/thestar/life/food_wine/2021/11/25/worth-waiting-in-line-roasted-nut-factorys-jumbo-cashews-and-pistachios-are-sublime/_1_nut_factory_main.jpg”,”mainartSize”:”large”,”renditions”:[{“url”:”https://images.thestar.com/PecowKgYm_693dq2esalSbrPM4A=/0x0:1200×800/93×52/smart/filters:cb(1637849038517)/https://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/life/food_wine/2021/11/25/worth-waiting-in-line-roasted-nut-factorys-jumbo-cashews-and-pistachios-are-sublime/_1_nut_factory_main.jpg”,”width”:93,”height”:52,”scalefactor”:8,”aspect”:”wide”}]},”seopublisheddate”:”2021-11-25″,”seomodifieddate”:”2021-11-25T10:00:04.878Z”,”primarylabel”:{“label”:”Food & Drink”,”relurl”:”/life/food_wine”,”url”:”https://www.thestar.com/content/thestar/life/food_wine.html”},”totalParas”:0,”additionalEvents”:”,event29″,”sectionLevel1″:”Life || /life”,”sectionLevel2″:”Food & Drink || /life/food_wine”}
//–>
ADVERTISEMENT
At the end of the Mississauga plaza, a line begins to form outside the Roasted Nut Factory by 10 a.m. The bulk food shop only lets one person in at a time due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but people are willing to wait as it’s one of the few nut shops in the city that does their own roasting on-site.
Once inside, you can see coffee beans being fed through a grinder as the smell of roasted nuts and spices waft through the air.
Founded nearly 20 years ago, the family-run Roasted Nut Factory started out in St. Catharines before moving to Mississauga at 2399 Cawthra Rd. for more space.
Mohammad Saleh Koussa’s parents do the roasting in the back while he handles the inventory that includes saffron, lemon and black pepper flavoured pistachios and the popular jumbo cashews in bins that line the wall from floor to ceiling. Also available at the shop: dried fruit, jams, spices and olive oils.
The saffron pistachios have a sweet, floral twist to balance out the salted nuts, while the freshly roasted cashews have a rich, buttery flavour.
The self-serve bins are currently off-limits to the public, so Koussa does the scooping. Still, even if most of the shop is sealed off, customers can still see all the bins, along with posters of nuts, twinkle lights and Lebanese flags (homage to the family’s roots).
The younger Saleh Koussa has also taken upon itself to spread word of his family’s store through social media, flashy signs by the road and even covering his own car with nut decals. But judging from the steady flow of people lining up, his parents have already cultivated a loyal following. Those who know, know.
Read all of the stories in this week’s Toronto food coverage:
This Palestinian dairy shop has some of the hardest to find types of cheese, ice cream and ghee
This vegetarian Vietnamese restaurant is the place to go for hot pot
For mouth-watering Iraqi kebabs, you just have to ask
More from The Star & Partners
