Somewhere far away, in the sun-scorched slopes, are surrounded by a white haze trees, enveloped in a thin, spicy aroma - it blooms almond, which is called "royal nut."Its shape is often used for poetic comparisons - almond eyes even sang Omar Khayyam.
Those who at least once in his life seen a flowering almond, in his memoirs, will again return to this enchanting picture ... like a peach tree - low, with a grayish trunk.Its fruit - smooth perforated bone in a velvet sheath, which when ripe dry and cracked.Inside it is an edible core, which we call the almonds.The similarity of a plant with a peach not just scientists has imposed the idea of the relationship of these two cultures.However, the birthplace of the Caucasus is considered a nut or North Africa, and peaches - China.
Nowadays almond grows mainly in the Mediterranean, China and the United States.There is growing its three varieties: sweet, bitter, and a thin-walled.The bitter glycoside amygdalin contained many poisonous substances that give this kind of characteristic, familiar to all tastes.Therefore, this can not eat almonds without pretreatment.Fifty bitter nuts - lethal dose for humans.As a result, roasting, boiling, and calcination, hydrogen cyanide is derived from the kernel - and bitter almonds can be eaten.Although often it is used in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries.
thin-walled and have a sweet smell and taste are not as pronounced.They can enjoy and without prior heat treatment - thanks to the age-old domestication and breeding nuclei contain small doses of amygdalin.However, even in cultivated varieties of sweet almond sometimes come across bitter nuts, and some of them are inherent bitter flavor.This does not apply to the California varieties, which do not have any amygdalin.
Usually dishes, mainly desserts, which are prepared using a "safe" class, add a drop of bitter essence - for flavor.That's what makes marzipan, well whipped sweet mixture of ground nuts, sugar, rose water and essential oils, which is obtained by evaporation of ground bitter almonds and water.
Essence is suitable for flavoring cakes.The use of bitter almonds are not limited to sweets.As a spice sweet almond is used in eastern cuisine to thicken sauces.In India it is fried together with other spices (nutmeg, cinnamon, cumin, ginger) and then mixed with yogurt.The Chinese and Indonesian cuisines walnut is added to many dishes: in rice, vegetables, meat and poultry.In Europe, for example, in Spain, sweet almonds, ground is often used as breaded fish and meat.
In cooking, used as almond oil - for salads, rice and vegetables.However, it is very expensive to buy and it is quite difficult.A pomace that remains after squeezing the oil from the kernels make halva.
Different cultures nut credited with amazing properties and the almond tree is associated with sophistication and elegance.Arabs core, hidden under the shell, is identified with the mystical essence hidden under the cover of an invisible shell.In the philosophical system of the Chinese "yin-yang" almonds embodies feminine - Yin.For the Jews, as a symbol of immortality.
But the most beautiful thing in almonds - that from it we can make biscuits.And then, washed down with fresh coffee, close your eyes and imagine yourself on the Mediterranean Sea, including drowning in white color of the wood.
Articles Source: shkolazhizni.ru
