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To Blanch and to Pound Almonds

A method for blanching and pounding almonds into a smooth paste.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,655 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

To Blanch and to Pound Almonds

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the almonds

  1. Place almonds in a saucepan with plenty of cold water and heat slowly.

  2. When the water is just scalding, transfer the almonds to a basin and peel them.

  3. Put the peeled almonds into cold water as you finish peeling each one.

  4. Dry the almonds well with a soft cloth before using.

  5. For easier pounding, dry the almonds in a warm room for 2-3 days on a large dish.

Pound the paste

  1. While pounding, sprinkle the almonds with a few drops of cold water, white of egg, or lemon juice.

  2. Pound the almonds to a smooth paste, preferably after roughly chopping them first.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Almond + lemontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together44,316 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).

  3. Almond + eggtop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,645 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Egg and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 44,316 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Almonds
Form the main body of the paste, providing fat and bulk that give it a smooth, rich texture.
White of egg
Adds moisture and binding so the pounded almonds hold together as a paste.
Lemon juice
Adds a little acidity that brightens flavour and helps keep the paste moist.

The step that matters

Drying the almonds before pounding. Almonds that stay wet after peeling clump and turn gummy when pounded. Drying them well, and optionally air-drying them for a few days, lets them break down into a smooth, crumbly paste instead.

Swap the almond

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, lemon):

  1. Milletfits better
  2. Pistachiofits better
  3. Chickpeafits better
  4. Almondthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, lemon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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