bitterness and the characteristic aroma.
Bitter almonds are generally unavailable in
the United States, while in Europe they’re
used like a spice, added in small numbers to
flavor marzipan made from sweet almonds, as
well as to amaretti cookies, amaretto liqueur,
and other dishes. Apricot and peach kernels
are readily available alternative sources of
benzaldehyde, though they don’t have the
intense and otherwise fine flavor of bitter
almonds. German cooks make versions of
marzipan called persipan with apricot and
peach kernels.
Brazil Nuts Brazil nuts are unusually large,
an inch/2.5 cm or more long, and double the
weight of almonds and cashews. They’re the
seeds of a large tree (Bertholletia excelsa, 150
ft/50 m tall, 6 ft/2 m across) native to the
Amazon region of South America, where they
develop in groups of 8 to 24 inside a hard,
coconutsized shell. South American countries