Marcona almond

Amande Marcona

What it is

Marcona is round where almonds are normally flattened, and carries enough extra oil that it goes soft in the fryer instead of crisping — nearer a macadamia than a baking almond. Its price is agronomy rather than fashion: the tree is a shy, irregular bearer, and Spain eats most of what it grows.

In the kitchen

Fry them in mild olive oil at about 140 °C and lift them out pale: they hold so much oil that they keep cooking off the heat and turn bitter if you wait for colour. Salt them wet, while the surface still holds oil.

Goes with

Olive oil Salt Sherry vinegar Serrano ham Manchego Saffron

Same species

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

Also used with

Lomo embuchado Mojama Salchichón

In season alongside

Ajvar Cipollini onion Halibut Albacore Brill Cabbage

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