Why it works: Almond and olive match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,875 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Salt Almonds Recipe No. 129
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the almonds
Blanch almonds in boiling water for a few minutes.
Break the skin at the point and slip out the almonds.
Fry and season
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan.
Stir in the almonds and cook, stirring constantly, until light brown.
Transfer to a sieve to shake off excess oil.
Sprinkle with coarse sea salt and let cool.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Almond + olivetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Almonds
- Provide the crunchy, nutty base that the oil and salt coat and brown.
- Olive oil
- Conducts heat for frying and carries flavour onto the almonds' surface.
- Coarse sea salt
- Adds a salty surface seasoning that contrasts with the almonds' sweetness.
The step that matters
Stirring the almonds while they fry until light brown. Almonds go from light brown to burnt within moments because their thin skins and high oil content brown quickly. Constant stirring keeps heat even so they colour evenly and do not scorch, which would leave a bitter taste.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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