Green almond

Amande fraîche

What it is

Across Turkey and the Levant the whole unripe fruit is a spring street food — çağla, loz akhdar — sold by the bagful with a twist of salt and eaten hull, shell and all. The window is short: once the shell lignifies, a matter of two or three weeks, you have to cut the fruit open and eat only the jelly kernel inside.

In the kitchen

Test with a thumbnail before you buy — if it will not sink into the hull, the shell has already hardened. Eat them cold with salt and olive oil, or brine them within a day; they brown fast once cut.

Goes with

Salt Olive oil Feta Mint Sumac Yogurt

Same species

Bergeron apricot Almond Almond flour Almond oil Amardine Amarena cherry in syrup

In season alongside

Sweetfish (ayu) Borage Chervil Cucumber Lettuce Mangetout

Something wrong here, or missing? Tell us