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
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the almonds
Blanch the almonds by covering them with boiling water for 3 to 4 minutes.
Drain and cover with cold water, then remove the skins.
Dry the almonds on a towel.
Fry and salt
Heat olive oil in a pan until very hot.
Fry the almonds until golden brown.
Drain on paper and sprinkle with coarse sea salt while hot.
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 main body and crunch, and their natural fat helps them crisp and brown when fried.
- Olive oil
- Carries heat evenly to the almonds, driving browning and giving them a golden, crisp surface.
The step that matters
Fry until golden brown, then drain. The oil must be very hot so the almonds brown quickly and evenly. Almonds keep darkening from residual heat after leaving the oil, so pull them out at a light golden colour to avoid bitterness.
“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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