Almond Petals

Let me tell you about Almond Petals, and why they are cut so thin rather than in the thick slices you might snack on.

An almond is a seed, high in fat and protein — not every seed is like that, but the almond is. Pick up a handful of petals and look: they are pale, delicate flakes, so fine they curl and flutter in your fingers. That fineness is what gives you the light, scattering crispness a petal is prized for, nothing like the solid bite of a whole almond.

Choose petals by colour and by nose. They should be pale ivory, almost blonde, with no dark edges from overheating. Smell the bag: fresh petals smell faintly sweet and milky, never sharp or waxy — that sharp, paint-like smell is how you catch rancid almonds, whatever their colour.

Some people say petals and flaked almonds are always the same thing. No! Pick them up and feel them — some bags give you thin, brittle flakes, others something sturdier. Treat every bag as the same and you risk two opposite mistakes: scorching thin petals under the grill while you wait for thicker ones to colour, or finding your "petals" too thick for the fine, scattering garnish you wanted.