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Almonds — Almendras
Appears in
By Frank Camorra and Richard Cornish
Published 2007
Almonds are essential to Spanish cooking and therefore to the recipes cooked at MoVida. A meal in Spain may start with a few salted almonds, may continue with a wet rabbit dish thickened with ground almonds then finish with Tarta de Santiago — a rich tart filled with almonds and decorated with a cross made with dusted sugar.
I am yet to find in Australia the same quality of almonds I cooked with in Spain. The flavour and softness are not the same. That said, there are some good nuts produced in the Riverland, South Australia, and parts of inland New South Wales and Victoria, and these are at their best when freshly harvested in the autumn. Try to buy these local almonds. Urban areas with a large Middle Eastern population have stores that sell quality nuts — a high turnover ensures that the nuts are always fresh. Almonds, like any nut, should be stored in a cool, dry place.