Patience Gray

Mandorlo (The Tree), Mandorla (The Fruit) Almond

Appears in

#25Honey from a Weed
Honey from a Weed

By Patience Gray

Published 1986

  • About
Sweet almonds are produced by this tree in some of its forms; the bitter (and, some intermediate) ones by others. Both kinds grow in the wastes of Catalonia, in Naxian valleys, and all over southern Italy, as well as being cultivated on a grand scale in the great plain of Bari and in Sicily. They flower in January, in the worst of winter.

Almonds are widely grown in impoverished soil on Mediterranean hillsides. Grilled and salted, they provide something to eat at any time of day; pounded with garlic and parsley in the Catalan picada; pounded and stuffed with herbs and breadcrumbs into the stomach of a fish; used in a fantastic array of confectionery and cakes; and pounded in quantity with the aid of an almond mill, to make the almond milk called orxata d’ametlles in Catalan, latte di mandorle in Italian – a refreshing summer drink.