in dishes, and serve it forth.
— From a medieval manuscript, published
in R. Warner, Antiquitates Culinariae,
1791Why Almonds Don’t Taste Like Almond
Flavoring Curiously, standard domesticated
almonds taste delicately nutty, nothing like
the strong and distinctive flavoring called
“almond extract.” Strong almond flavor is
found only in wild or bitter almonds, which
are inedibly bitter and toxic. They contain a
defensive system that generates deadly and
bitter hydrogen cyanide when the kernel is
damaged (p. 258). It’s estimated that eating a
few bitter almonds at a sitting could kill a
child. But it turns out that one by-product of
cyanide production is benzaldehyde, a volatile
molecule that is the essence of wild almond
flavor, and that contributes to the aromas of
cherry, apricot, plum, and peach. Our safe
“sweet” almond varieties lack both the