On Food and Cooking

only oily nuts can be made into a sauce base
on their own. When such nuts are ground into
“butters,” the oil provides the fluid continuous
phase that lubricates the particles of cell walls
and proteins. But most of the time, nuts are
mixed with other ingredients, including
liquids, so they become part of a complex
suspension and help thicken both with their
dry particles and with their oil, which
becomes emulsified into tiny droplets.
Almonds have long served this purpose in the
Middle East and Mediterranean in such sauces
as romesco (with red peppers, tomatoes, and
olive oil) and picada (garlic, parsley, oil), and
the coconut in tropical Asia, where it’s
pounded along with spices and herbs to
become part of the sauce for cooked meats,
fish, and vegetables.
Nuts and other finely ground seeds and
spices help thicken liquid sauces thanks to
their very dryness, which allows their
particles to absorb water from the sauce and