Why it works: Almond and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 25% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,645 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
To Pound Almonds
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Blanch the almonds and let them dry in a warm room for 2-3 days on a large dish or tin.
Roughly chop the almonds or place them directly into a mortar.
Make the paste
Sprinkle a few drops of cold water, white of egg, or lemon juice while pounding.
Pound the almonds to a smooth paste.
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 + eggtop 25% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,645 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
- Form the entire body of the paste, providing bulk, fat and flavor once pounded smooth.
- Cold water, white of egg, or lemon juice
- Added in small amounts while pounding to help the almonds bind into a smooth, workable paste.
The step that matters
Pound the almonds to a smooth paste. Almonds release their oils as they are crushed, so pounding in small additions of liquid keeps the paste moist and stops it from becoming oily or grainy.
“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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