Cold-pressed oils are generally used as a
flavoring, refined oils as cooking oils. Nut
oils have a stronger flavor if the nuts are
roasted before extraction. Because they often
have a large proportion of fragile
polyunsaturated fatty acids, they’re more
vulnerable to oxidation than ordinary
vegetable oils, and are best kept in dark
bottles in the refrigerator. The leftover solids
— nut meal or flour — make a flavorful and
nutritious contribution to baked goods.
Nut Milks If nuts are ground while dry, their
microscopic oil bodies (p. 459) merge and
coalesce to make oil the continuous liquid
phase of the paste. But if the raw nuts are first
soaked in water, then grinding releases the oil
bodies relatively intact into the continuous
water phase. When the solid nut particles are
strained off, this leaves behind a fluid similar
to milk, with oil droplets, proteins, sugars,
and salts dispersed in water. In medieval