A while back, the grocery store by our building had these...
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| Fuzzy Green Almonds |
Green Almonds.
Wha wha whaaat?
So I bought a small bag and brought them home to try. They are fuzzy. Like peach fuzz on steroids fuzzy. Who knew?
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| Inside Green Almonds |
I read online and you can eat them whole (yep, fuzz and all) or some people slice them open and just eat the almond from the inside.
Yep, that's where almonds come from...I'm sure birds and bees are somehow involved, LOL!
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| Green Almonds sliced open |
2nd Man looked, touched a few and said "nope, I'm good....". So it was up to me. I ate one whole. And I cut out the almonds on others.
The whole one? Um...not sure how to describe it...it has a firm but somewhat jelly like consistency...very grassy taste, slightly bitter, and not really something I liked. The texture was odd and the fuzziness is somewhat off-putting.
In the interest of full disclosure, I didn't finish it.
Now for the center part, the not yet ripe almond, that was another story. It was VERY good. Soft, but with that familiar almond taste, magnified.
I was hoping to try a technique I saw online, simmering (poaching) them in olive oil for 30 minutes, but alas I had already cut out all the almonds when I read about it and when I went to get some more a few days later, they were gone. These are apparently hard to find and fleeting as they are only available for a brief period of time each year. We might try again next year.
Anyone ever had these?
Anyone ever had these?
My thoughts exactly 2nd Man. The only thing that I like about Almonds is the extract of which I use a lot of or to use as a baking decoration but me to eat an almond; No Thank You.
ReplyDeleteYou know; I just bet a person could make almond extract basically the same way as you would in making vanilla. (gosh, I just may have to check that out)
Found out that they are basically available from mid April - mid June.
DeleteHow to use: https://food52.com/blog/6772-green-almonds-underage-and-misunderstood
Green Almonds for sale; http://www.melissas.com/Green-Almonds-p/656.htm
http://www.greenalmonds.com/
http://persianbasket.com/fresh-almonds-chaghaleh-badoom
I'm going to call you the queen of google! Thank you for this info. Oh and yes, almond extract is WONDERFUL. I never thought about making it either, I'll have to check into that. I got these in about mid june so that was at the end.
DeleteYou don't like almonds? I haven't found a nut I don't like yet, ha.
I have never seen or heard of them, but given a chance I will try them!
ReplyDeleteIt's worth a try, you never know!
DeleteWe had an almond tree for a while. I tried the whole fruit. Once.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to see an almond tree in person. I hear they are pretty. The whole fruit...once...yep, I can relate, ha.
DeleteI love almonds but I think I'll pass on the green, fuzzy stage of them. You're a brave man for trying it!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I can't say no don't eat it, but I can say that they may not be for everyone.
DeleteUm, no. I am not that adventurous.
ReplyDeleteLOL, I hear ya!
DeleteAs a youngster, I loved to chomp on green, fresh, fuzzy, crunchy almonds. We had a tree growing in our yard so getting to eat them before they started to harden and shed the outer fuzzy coat was an annual treat. I had forgotten about them until I read this.
ReplyDeleteMaybe mine were old, or something, ha. I guess it's an acquired taste. That's cool that you had them as a youngster. W
DeleteWhat a neat memory. Thanks for sharing!!
DeleteAs a commercial almond grower in California all I can say is: eat them however ya' want...just make sure you eat them! FYI: almonds have many different varieties and flavors...almond extract comes from a bitter almond (almost like a wild almond).
ReplyDeleteA commercial almond grower??? How cool is that!!!! I'm guessing we can't grow that tree here about the best nut we get to grow is the pecan. (which we love, speaking of, I need to plant one of those for the "future".). Thanks again and
Deleteoops, hit enter, meant to say AND we do love all other forms of almonds, ha.
DeleteThis is the first year our almond tree has given us enough to gather. I have to say I've never seen them like that in the grocery store and have never heard of eating them green and whole; you're quite brave! Right now I'm just trying to figure out how to hull them all. Some of the hulls peel right off but some are stuck like concrete.
ReplyDelete