بادام

Many of us have enjoyed a rendezvous or two with the sweet almond in delicacies like marzipan or have enjoyed the dramatic presentation of whole almonds standing upright and decorating baked Brie. Sweet almond slivers grace the top of many cakes or garnish a platter of steamed green beans.

During the industrial revolution in England, German born scientist Fredrick Accum wrote A Treatise on Adulterations of Food, and Culinary Poisons in 1820. In his book he revealed many dangerous practices sellers and food manufacturers used to enhance foods, among them was the dubious practice of adding bitter almond to table wines to give them their nutty flavor. Angry businessmen ran him out of the country, but eventually his revelations led to the formation of the first British Food and Drug Act in 1872.

One of the early European uses of almond milk was in the preparation of the French dessert blancmange, a delicate, all white, chilled custard whose British version of the 14th and 15th century, blancmanger, included shredded chicken breast, sugar, rice, and almond milk or ground almonds.

Almonds along with dates, grapes, and olives were among the earliest cultivated foods, probably before 3,000 BCE. Almonds and pistachios are the only nuts mentioned in the bible. Earliest varieties of almonds came from China, carried via the Silk Road to Greece, Turkey and the Middle East. Explorers ate almonds as sustenance as they traveled the Silk Road.