Almonds

The almond is an oval, tan coloured seed harvested from the almond tree (Prunus dulcis), which is related to the plum, cherry and peach family. There are two forms of the plant: one (usually with white flowers) that produces sweet almonds, and another (usually with pink flowers) that produces bitter almonds.

Sweet almonds may be eaten as snacks; covered in a smooth coating of sugar and served at weddings; cooked in sugar until caramelized to produce praline; or sliced and added to chicken or fish dishes. Ground sweet almonds may be used in place of flour to produce rich, moist cakes and crisp biscuits, or combined with egg to produce marzipan for coating cakes.

Bitter almonds contain a naturally occurring toxin (hydrogen cyanide) and so must be heated well before use to destroy the highly volatile poison. However, once cooked, they may be processed to make almond oil or almond extract, or used to bring out the flavour of any dish using sweet almonds.

Almonds can be bought in their shells or out of them, and also come ready blanched, flaked, shredded, diced and ground. However, to taste almonds at their best, you should buy them unblanched, then skin and roast them just before use.

It is worth noting that almonds contain only a small amount of carbohydrates and so can be made into flour for cakes and biscuits for low carbohydrate diets or for patients suffering from diabetes.