Why it works: Butter and almond 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 ↓
Salted Almonds
Ingredients
Directions
Heat the butter and lard in a skillet until very hot.
Add the blanched almonds and stir constantly until they are nearly done.
Remove from heat when they are light brown, as they will continue to cook while cooling.
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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Butter + almondtop 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 body and toasty nutty flavor as they brown in the fat.
- Butter
- Adds richness and flavor and helps the almonds brown evenly in the hot pan.
- Lard
- Conducts high heat well and carries flavor, helping the almonds fry and crisp.
The step that matters
Removing the almonds from heat at light brown. Almonds keep cooking from residual heat after leaving the pan, so pulling them too late can scorch them and make them bitter. Removing them while still light brown lets carryover heat finish them evenly.
“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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