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 ↓
Salted Almonds, Pecans Ok Peanuts
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare and roast
Blanch the almonds and dry them with a cloth.
Place the almonds in a baking pan and put them in the oven.
When they start to brown, add the oil and salt.
Cook for a few more minutes.
Finish
Sift the almonds when they are cold.
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
- Shelled almonds
- Form the main body of the snack and brown in the oven to develop a toasted flavor.
- Olive oil or butter
- Adds fat that helps the salt cling to the almonds and promotes even browning.
- Coarse sea salt
- Provides the seasoning that defines the snack and adheres to the oiled nuts.
The step that matters
Adding the oil and salt when the almonds start to brown. Oil helps the salt stick to the nuts and carries heat evenly, while adding it too early can cause uneven results and too little browning, and waiting too long can leave the almonds scorched or uneven.
“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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