20
May
Today I went to my favourite Lebanese shop in London, Zen in Moscow Road, to shop for a lunch I am cooking for friends on Sunday. I love going there, especially at this time of the year because of all the seasonal produce they bring in from the home country. Not quite locavore but irresistible. They had green almonds although they were no longer fresh enough to eat whole but still tender enough to crack them easily and eat the nut inside which by that stage (stage two as I like to call it) is no longer milky and gelatinous but fully formed and crunchy, and very fresh tasting. I normally crack them open with my teeth but it may be safer to use a nut cracker!
Here is what the nut looks like inside the shell, and as you can see the hard shell is still thin and fairly soft.
And here is the almond peeled. Totally scrumptious and even though I often soak dried unpeeled almonds to rehydrate them and make them taste as if they were fresh, they are never as tender and as fresh tasting as when they are at stage two. If you like the sound of these almonds, I suggest you go to Zen, or any other Middle Eastern store for that matter, to buy some. The season will not last very long!
Tagged : green almonds stage two, lebanese produce, zen 
11
There is 11 comments on this post
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May 20, 2011 at 4:35 pm
I have never seen green almonds before, I would like to try it. These photos are very good, you got some great shots here. It sounds interesting! Thanks for showing us.
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May 20, 2011 at 4:46 pm
you are welcome 🙂
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May 20, 2011 at 4:54 pm
Snap!
http://veggiestan.com/2011/04/23/fresh-green-almonds/
We’ve got them in store now if you’d like any 🙂
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May 20, 2011 at 6:42 pm
I wonder, do they taste sweet or bitter? Would love to visit the shop “zen”. I used to go to a restaurant on Hereford Rd called “hafez” quite often when I lived in the area. Moscow rd also has a very good Greek shop where I would buy bags of pickled chillies & olives. Sadly, I now live further out of town so I guess I may not be able to sample the delights of a green almond.
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May 21, 2011 at 6:03 am
they taste v sweet although every now and then, you will get a slightly bitter one which makes for an interesting change. you should try to get them if you can, both stage one and stage two as they are delicious, and a seasonal delicacy 🙂
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May 22, 2011 at 10:15 am
Love it. I found an almond tree outside a council flat in Hackney. They didn’t know, obviously, as all the fruits just lay abandoned. I find the idea of exotic nut trees in East London so romantic.
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May 23, 2011 at 1:49 am
that’s amazing kerstin. are you eating the fruit. simon hopkinson told me he makes the most amazing ajo blanco with them. needs a lot of patience to shell all those nuts but he said he doesn’t mind.
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May 23, 2011 at 1:40 pm
I am really enjoying your blog. I’m cooking a middle eastern influenced meal for 12 next week and I’m popping by here regularly for inspiration. Thank you, it’s beautiful!
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May 23, 2011 at 3:24 pm
you are welcome and good luck with the middle eastern influenced meal 🙂
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June 18, 2011 at 1:07 pm
Hi , i am a big fan of green almonds , i eat a kg as and when i get a chance but i have a real problem cutting them with my teeth , thay are not so clean , is there any other way to break them up , i have used a nut cracker but to no vail , and any exciting recipies with green almonds ?? , they will definitely find a special spot in my small ” i can make list ” 🙂
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June 18, 2011 at 7:02 pm
hi sanchit, the persians cook them in their stew (khoresht) but i have never had them cooked. they must be good. and as for how to crack them, they are now a little bit harder. in fact on their way to becoming too hard to crack with your teeth and the nut cracker should work 🙂