Forms and uses
Almonds are used extensively in food and beverages, as well as in cosmetics,in folk and vegan remedies. Almonds are consumed as whole - natural or processed. Sliced, ground, cold pressed or refined. Below is a partial list of forms and uses:
- Whole – with its natural shell, Natural or Roasted
- Whole – shelled, Natural or Blanched
- Slices of Flakes – Natural or Blanched as topping for salads, ingredient for cereal, garnishing for baked goods and desserts
- Dice or Chopped - Natural or Blanched as topping for dairy items, baked goods, stuffing and coatings like ice cream bars.
- Filling for bakery, confectionery
- Meal or Flour - Natural or Blanched as sauce thickener, for making almond butter or marzipan, filling for confectionery
- Roasted and salted – 'king' of the nuts and seeds.
- Paste and Butter – the first food that babies eat when adjusting to solid food, and also leveraged to enrich cooked dishes and pastries
- As a natural, filling and rich snack
- Energy snack – sweet or salty, as an important source of daily added energy, after sports activities or in-between meals.
- Almonds as an ingredient in every serving and in every meal: utilization of almonds in different forms has become widespread. In baking, cooking, salads, soups and side dishes. Almonds are effectively present in every one of the festive and everyday servings and meals. As an enriching or garnishing ingredient, natural or lightly roasted.
- An important ingredient in the confectionery tradition of Western Europe. The Austrian cuisine employs almond flour and almond cream in cakes and cake/ cookie pastries. The French enhance the butter croissant with almond cream, while Sicilians are proud of their marzipan made from local almonds.
- Moroccan cuisine employs ground almond (with argan oil and honey added) as a spread.
- Almond flour: enriches baking and adopted by those who avoid gluten
- Green Almonds - Some take advantage of the initial spring ripening, when the hull is still green and bit able and the seed has not yet ripened (a semi-solid texture), to consume green almonds as a snack with salt, or as an ingredient in salads or cooked dishes.
- An almond drink as a vegan substitute to liquid milk
- Almond oil for salads or cooking (as an alternative to olive oil or nut oil)
- Rosette – an almond drink generally served at celebrations
- Amaretto – an almond liquor (usually bitter)
- Cosmetics Almond Oil – the benefits of mineral and vitamin rich almonds serve to nourish the skin and scalp. Almond oil is applied in body massages, while almond essence is harnessed in the soap, shampoo and lotion industry.
