Almonds

Nuts that can be bought as skin-on, blanched, whole, halved, flaked, chopped or ground. Used in sweet or savoury dishes, especially those with an Arabic influence. There are two main types of almonds — sweet and bitter. The flavour of sweet almonds is delicate and slightly sweet. They’re readily available and, unless otherwise indicated, are the variety used in recipes. Bitter almonds are more strongly flavoured and contain traces of lethal prussic acid when raw. Processed bitter almonds are used to flavor extracts and liqueurs.