Why it works: Almond and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,245 recipes. Both carry 2,3-pentanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Salt Almonds
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Pour boiling water over the shelled almonds and let them sit until the skins begin to loosen.
Rub the almonds in a clean towel to remove the skins.
Place the blanched almonds in a pan with a little butter.
Roast
Put the pan in a 400°F (200°C) oven and watch the almonds closely.
Shake the pan frequently to ensure even browning.
Once they are delicately and evenly colored, remove them from the oven and let them cool.
Salt and serve
Dust a little coarse sea salt over the cooled almonds and serve as a relish or with fine sherry or Madeira.
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 + buttertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Almonds
- Provide the main nutty flavor and crisp texture that the roasting develops.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness and helps prevent the almonds from burning in the pan.
The step that matters
Watching the browning in the oven. Nuts go from golden to bitter within a short time because sugars and proteins brown quickly at high heat. Shaking the pan promotes even color, and removing the almonds as soon as they are evenly colored stops the browning before they scorch.
“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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