Al-Khaym bakery and restaurant

[joan]

i made my first trip to al-khaym lebanese bakery last week. a friend had recommended the bulgarian feta they carry. she was right, it's delicious; but she was wrong about it not being very salty. they also had french, danish and turkish feta; deli case olives, all $2.99/lb. (even jewel now has a self serve olive bar, i believe they charge $5.99/lb!) they also have a huge selection of middle eastern pastries, all made in the open bakery area. i grabbed a menu from their adjoining fast food restaurant called al-khaymeih, but didnt have time to eat.
one of the 2 lebanese brothers/owners, peter, was staffing the checkout line. he was so helpful and friendly, telling me to make sure i find him when i come back to eat, so he can explain the food to me, that i feel he and his businesses are chow-worthy and i must go back.
i had just ridden my bike on a very cold, windy day from wicker park to skokie to get bagels and corned beef at kaufman's bakery, then back down kedzie to al-khayim for bulgarian feta in a lebanese grocery, whose owner lives in skokie. i left grinning at the great international-ness of it all. i love eating and shopping in chicagoland! joan

al-khaym bakery and restaurant, 4742 n. kedzie [phone]

[RST]

Aha! I have been waiting for weeks for this opening to boast about my two new date plants. Had bought bunches of fresh dates from Al-Khyam last summer (also available at Ted's on Devon and elsewhere in the summer) and had absentmindedly stuck a couple of pits in a houseplant pot. They finally sprouted last December, by which point I had completely forgotten all about the dates. Racked my brains for weeks trying to figure out what kind of weeds these were. Finally, was chatting with a Filipina friend when she casually mentioned some new date-farming venture outside General Santos City in Mindanao (the climate there is supposedly perfect for dates) and I went "it's those dates". Anyone knows how to grow dates as houseplants?

Anyway, remember the thread months ago about inventing a cocktail to honor "Albany Park"? I had fantasized at that time about macerating overripened dates in large jars of vodka with a few Middle-Eastern spices (just enough to tantalize and have people wondering what is in there) and serving this in a martini glass rimmed with a bit of powdered sugar.

There is no greater joy in summer than munching on fresh dates. I like mine slightly overripened. But the owner of Al-Khyam was eating ripe (not overripe), crunchy ones, and he said that he prefers it this way.

****

Joan,
As a baker, you ought to spend some more time investigating their nut bar. Iran, Turkey, Lebanon, Syria have some of the best terroirs in the world for various kinds of nuts (almonds, pistachios etc) and some of these imports are superior to the stuff that is generally available in supermarkets etc. I enjoy eating at King Falafel (on Lawrence) a lot: the mother of the owner (Munzer) always makes me (off-the-menu) typical dishes from old Damascus. The other day, I was just chatting with Munzer about nuts: he said that the slivered almonds that is available in regular groceries is just simple not the same thing as the ones from back home.

Incidentally, I recall a front page story on Turkish (or was it Iranian) pistachios in the Reader. Does anyone remember that? It's probably from 2 to 3 years back. Would love to reread that article if anyone knows where to find it.

****

Of the three "Middle-Eastern" sweets-shop in the vicinity, this one is my favorite. (The other two are: the one next to Salam and the one next to the new-4 months old-Jordanian restaurant called Al-Ameer.)

(Quick note on Al-Ameer: had one meal here, about two weeks after it opened. Very comfortable interior. Young girl who waited on me was wonderful, explaining various items in detail. Fairly extensive menu. I had a beautifully-cooked lamb shank that I thought a bit bland and underspiced. Was going to visit a second time before reporting on it. This is on the mall on Kedzie a half-block north of Lawrence.)

****

Al-Khyam also has a small but excellent selection of bottled/canned products (I get rosewater from here). The butcher at the back is also excellent-specially for diff cuts/offal of lamb, although to be sure, there are-what?-7 or 8 "Middle-Eastern" butchers/meat purveyors within 2-3 blocks.

There's one a little farther off (towards Montrose) that I always go to bec it is the one that always has sweetbreads. I swing by at the last minute, pick up some sweetbreads and have one of my grillmen/friends from one of the restaurants in this area grill it up for me and serve it with some rice, some pickles/torshi, perhaps a cup of tomato soup.

And the Mayor of CH keeps complaining about not finding "Middle-Eastern" on this corner! Gimme a break! So many food cultures are represented within this 2-3 block radius: Palestinian-Jordanian at Salam, Jordanian at Al-Ameer, Eygyptian Luxor (see Zim's query), Munzer's place a bit farther away, Persian Noon-O-Kabab, the butcher that annieb reports to have merguez, the three Assyrian-Iraqis (the third hidden one is Little Shedrock, a block off Lawrence)...

One just has to break free of that "oh, it's all falafels, you know" and "oh, Middle-Eastern is all the same thing" mindset.

RST

[RST]

For those interested in sweetbreads, the word I use to look for it is "ghudad". Everyone seems to understand it.

[Nazerac]

Here's a trick for the Feta. Remove it from the container (carefully that tin container may be dangerous), wash it under fresh water, and put it in another container with some cold water. Do that again the next day, and you will end up with some of the most succulent cheeses ever. Cut it up into small bites, have some kalamata olives, and use those two as chasers for ice cold Vodka shots as my friend from Monrovia taught me (or the Vodka might be a good chaser after all that salt).

Regarding the nuts, they would occasionally havefresh Almonds and Pistachio nuts,usually in the spring/early summer. The fresh, green almonds are eaten raw (the core/pit is still liquid at that point). Serve them cold with some salt. Later on, when the pit is formed, you just eat the pit as the rest would have already hardenend. Blue Diamon, a cooperative of nut growers ... err ... almond growers have a good history of Almonds on their website.

Link: http://www.bluediamond.com/almonds/hi...

[RST]

Hi Nazerac,
I'm not much of a feta-eater but isn't it true that Bulgarian feta is supposed to be more restrained when it comes to the proportion of salt in the pickling brine? I heard this casually elsewhere, and I guess this is also what Joan was trying to say when she commented that oh it's Bulgarian but STILL quite salty.

Any tips on different types of feta? I get dizzy when I go to a place like Ted's on Devon, see all their different fetas all lined up and can't tell what's what.

The feta eating countries/cultures include Balkan/Southern Slavic and Mediterranean states like Bosnia, Serbia, Albania, Montenegro, Romania, Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, Lebanon, Syria and so on. These are all cultures that have very strong representation in Chicago. My guess is that no one distributor/importer dominates the entire market even for a specific ethnic group so that there is still quite a wide range of sources/products available out there. Presumably there would be a handful of distributors preferred by the Greeks and each of them would represent/work with their own feta-makers from back home. But how about the other cultures: do the Serbs or the Bulgars or the Turks have their own preferred sources/types? Must go and ask the lady who owns Lalich's who has been very helpful answering such questions about Serbs in Chicago. Incidentally, Bulgarian feta and other Bulgarian cheeses (kashkaval etc) are commonly found in "Middle-Eastern" groceries.

Re: "regarding the nuts, THEY would occasionally have fresh almonds and pistachios..."

By "they", are you referring to Al-Khyam? That's good to know! Never knew this. Never caught/saw these in season. But then, presumably, almonds are late summer fruits...? Don't they flower at about the same time as our Midwestern crabapples and peachtrees (being in the same family) and bear fruit much later in the year...?

Also, are you talking about the entire fruit or just the nut/kernel? You seem to be talking about the whole fruit here when you said "serve it cold with some salt..." That makes it even more exciting.

Presumably fresh almond fruits would come from California.

RST

[RST]

Also, for those interested in finding out about Iranian pistachios and almonds and how they have been kept out of this country by the fierce, intense California almond- and pistachio-growing lobby, even after the trade sanctions for Iran were lifted, do:

Google: Reagan + pistachios

Found an interesting Christian Science Monitor article and then lost the link. Can't look for it now.

RST

[Nazerac]

On Feta and other cheeses:

Actually, the Bulgaria Feta is saltier, which is why I always rinse it in water. However, I found that after the rinse and overnight soaking, it has the best cream/salt ratio of all the others. My favorite is the one that comes in those cubic green cans. Surprisingly,when I showed that brand to one of my Bulgarian friends, she didn't recognize it. Maybe that brand was specially made for export? There was another brand, which also has a green label for Feta, but they have Ksshkaval as well (sorry, can't recall the name), that one was remembered. As for ME stores having all types of Bulgaria cheeses, it is true. I grew up in Lebanon, and over there we called all Feta "Bulgarian Cheese". Kashkaval however came in from Greece or Bulgaria. There's another cheese which you may see, it is called Halloumi, those are either locally made or they come in from Cyprus or Greece. Halloumi is excellent grilles/panneed and made into a sandwich with some gresh tomatoes/cucumber/mint. Ackawi is another good cheese. I found a The Greeks have another yellow cheese which I prefer over Kashkaval. It is drier much sharper,I think that it is called kefalogaviera (excuse the spelling). You won't find that in ME stores, you will have to go to the Greek ones. I know that the Greek store in Greektown carries it.

Almonds and Pistachios

Yes, I meant Al Khyam by they, though Andy's market, across the street may carry them as well. You're right about the assumption, "green almonds" are eaten whole, fruit and kernel (the kernel is not developed yet). They are usually green in early summer, later on, when the fruit is fully developed, you may find them as well. By then, the kernel is developed, and the fruit hardened, so you just crack it open and eat the kernel. According to the Blue Diamond website, the harvesting season (when the kernels are developed) is mid-march to July, so you can expect to see the young green in March-June, and the ones with the full Kernel in June-July.

As for Pistachios, I tried google and looked for Christian + Science + Reagan + Pistachios, and found a reference that Iranian pistachios are taxed at over 375% !!! They probably don't allow Persian tobacco in at all, too bad, that's the best (and most potent) for the hooka.

[RST]

Wow! Thanks for all the tips. Learned so much from it. Didn't even know that almond fruits could be eaten: assumed that they would be too tough and tannic and fibrous. So, this is basically unripe fruit then. How else would you use it apart from eating it raw. Would you cook with it? Could it be macerated in vodka as I thought of doing with fresh dates? Could it be pickled? It's hard to get info on this thru the web: when you do google almond + fruit, you get a gazillion websites on fruit and almond pastries.

Re: Al-Khyam
Any other tips on what to buy here? Any recommendations on the nuts in their new (as of 4 months or so ago) nut bar? Is the Ackawi available here?

Re: other Lebanese groceries
Any other good ones in the city? either in Albany Park or elsewhere? I know that there are dozens of very small mom-and-pop ME groceries including in such unexpected places as Irving Park and Pulaski.

There's one on the west side of Kedzie about 3 blocks south of Al-Khyam going towards Montrose that I like a lot only bec the owner is very friendly. It's really small and I'm not sure of the nationality of the owner. I like their cumin-ey falafels in a sandwich for $2.

Re: Kashkaval
My impression is that most of these that come in are not transported properly (i.e. probably frozen etc). Is this assumption incorrect?

RST
(Will look for the green cans)

[Rene G]

Several years ago I bought some green almonds at Andy’s Fruit Ranch and was wondering what to do with them. About that time Isadora Cohen posted some very useful information on rec.food.cooking. If you use the Advanced Groups Search feature of Google and specify ‘green almond’ as the exact phrase and ‘rec.food.cooking’ as the newsgroup you should turn up several useful posts. Following is a link to one of Isadora’s posts that includes a recipe for green almond and feta salad. So what did I do with my green almonds? Nothing. I let them rot in my refrigerator!

Link: http://groups.google.com/groups?q=+%2...

[RST]

D'oh! Can't believe that I didn't even realize it. After looking at that superb collection of recipes from Isadora Cohen on the link, I realized that I HAVE HAD green almonds many times before. It has become in recent years an often-seen ingredient in French haute cuisine. I have had it in a dish at Marc Veyrat and also at Edouard Loubet in Lourmarin! In both cases, the special aroma of green almond fruits is captured in the accompanying sauce without the form of the fruit preserved. That is why I did not immediately put two and two together and realize that this is what we are talking about!

In fact, I have had young almond fruits presented to me in the form of a salty/savory ice cream amuse-gueule at one of the Adria-influenced restaurants in Catalunya! However, there are actually many traditional Spanish (and specially Andalucian) recipes for young almond fruits. A few versions of the almond soups of the south (ajo blanco etc) for instance call for a certain proportion of these little fruits.

I would also venture to guess that there are certain French regions (I can't think of one at the moment) with ancient dishes that incorporate these or where food products (conserves, pastes etc) are made from them. We just simply never see such recipes in the English-speaking world because cookbooks are written with the practical notion that they should be useful, i.e. that ingredients called for should be available. Dishes that feature items not found in the market are simply omitted. I marvel once again at the thought (already expressed in several other threads) that entire libraries of cookbooks on different world cuisines have become obsolescent almost overnight because of the radical changes in transportation and communication in the last decade. The food publishing world has quite a bit to do to catch up with the actuality of ingredients in our markets (whether it is herbs like aow or ssukat or yarmoo in our Korean markets or dried snails and kola nuts in the Nigerian) for all of which there exist no recipes or even explanation anywhere!!!

((A wild speculation, strictly a speculation: could the use of young almond fruits in dishes of certain villages or regions in France suggest an ancient Jewish presence/Jewish influence and roots?))

While serving as an apprentice and learning wine in France, a mentor handed me once a green almond fruit to smell. "Amande verte" is one of the most used single descriptors in the French wine-tasting vocabulary and he wanted to make sure that I memorized that olfactory impression. When I got back home and started giving wine classes, I despaired that I could not convey to my students exactly what the French are talking about when they describe Chinese teas or fine wines with aubepine or acacia or amande verte. And no, our hawthorns do not smell the same and no, the acacias on Belden (I tried to chop down a few flowering branches once) do not smell the same either. But now, I will wait for these fruits to come around to Al-Khyam and see if they bring back the same old memory.

I suspect that a number of the more aristocratic Mexican dishes that call for almonds/nuts originally called for green fruits/tender kernels in season. It is the not-in-season version of the recipe that gets transmitted to posterity. Senora Guadalupe of Taqueria Oaxaca at Ashland near 47th explained to me once that a very refined (Pueblan of course) version of chile en nogada (walnut sauce) required the exclusive use of tender walnut kernels, perhaps in the very same stage of development as the walnuts Zim reminisced about on the other post.

And Zim, if you asked around in your family, you might end up finding some old Kashmiri recipes that feature these fruits. In fact, there might be an entire curry for it. A badam curry!!! Badam's the word for almond isn't it?

And the Chinese? Could some of those preserved fruits at Yin Wall City actually be almond fruits? Have to go and check it out!

RST

[RST]

Sorry for some of the clumsy grammatical constructions above (while serving as..., my mentor etc). Was so exhausted when I got back home last night, wasn't thinking/writing straight. Will try to do some digging through cookbooks later today or tomorrow to see if I can find some actual Spanish or French recipes.

I think that amande verte has the potential to be the NEXT BIG THING in the food scene. Perhaps as soon as this summer.

Nazerac, thanks again for the heads up on their availability at Kedzie and Lawrence. And Rene, thanks for that great link.

More later.
RST

[annieb]

I have seen them for the last couple of years around Eastertime in markets in the Albany Park area. In clusters, with still supple leaves attached to the branches.

[annieb]

Oops. I should have written still-supple :-)

[Nazerac]

RST, you mentioned having worked in France, I don't know how good your French is (or aybody else's on this board), but here are a few good links for recipes from France. I tried to look for something with green almods, but couldn't find anything, maybe you'll have better luck.

http://www.cuisineetvinsdefrance.com/
http://friandises.charline.be/
http://www.marmiton.org/general/home.cfm
http://www.meilleurduchef.com/
http://www.cuisineaz.com/

Bon appetit.

[RST]

I suspect that recipes for green almonds would be hard to find bec they are not "publishable" i.e. the season is short & the availability is uncertain outside of almond-growing areas. But it's worth a try.

My guess is that for dishes calling for ground nuts of any kind (almonds, walnuts etc) coming from a nut-growing region, one can assume that there is an unpublished but finer version of the dish using the young kernels instead of the hardened nuts. Cf the above example I gave of chile en nogada made with young walnut kernels.

Also: I would be very curious to see if there are European recipes that make use of the whole fruit (as in the Middle-Eastern recipes linked by Rene) instead of pounding it into a paste/sauce as with the items I listed above (ice-cream, ajo blanco, chile en nogada) or used as an aromatic as with Veyrat/Loubet.

I have never tasted the entire fruit in a stew/cooked dish and have always assumed that it was too tough to eat. Those are some fabulous recipes from Israel Aharoni on the link! Cannot wait for the season to start!

(Also, there has been virtually no thinking in the Anglo-American food world on states of unripeness in fruits. We have had such a hard time fighting for true-instead of induced-ripeness in grocery produce that we can hardly even deal with unripeness. I made a few comments about this re young jackfruit and unripe mangos on the Kerala thread. Noted over there that diff cultures prefer diff states of unripeness, ex: Filipino unripe jackfruit is not the same thing as unripe jackfruit preferred by Malayalees/Keralans.)

Again, I feel that this has all the potential to be the next big thing.

RST

[annieb]

"My guess is that for dishes calling for ground nuts of any kind (almonds, walnuts etc) coming from a nut-growing region, one can assume that there is an unpublished but finer version of the dish using the young kernels instead of the hardened nuts."

Only if you think spring food is inherently superior to winter food. I remember reading somewhere that the best gnocchi are made from late winter potatoes, because that's when the sugar/starch/water content is appropriately in balance.

[RST]

No, I meant finer, not in the sense of "superior" but in the sense of "more refined", the way lace is "finer" than-say-velvet, though comparing the two would be like comparing apples and oranges.

*****

I had a couple of hours this morning to stop by the library and look through a few books to see if I can dig up a little bit more on "green almonds". The ff is by no means the result of an exhaustive search, just one single preliminary survey of the field.

First stop was a couple of standard references. Interestingly, Larousse Gastronomique says absolutely nothing about young almond fruit, although it discusses a good dozen and a half diff almond products. On the other hand, Alan Davidson (Oxford Companion to Food) wrote a splendid long entry in which he mentioned that "'green' (immature, soft) almonds are eaten in some places as titbits" without adding more specifics.

He did clarify quite a few things for me about almonds, however. First of all, he noted that what the Chinese call almonds is actually a different species (a kind of apricot). The Oxford Companion also has an entry for "Indian almond" which is a completely different fruit/nut altogether. In the old world, the tree "fruits only in warm temperate climates, tolerating neither spring frosts nor tropical humidity. Thus when it spread from its region of origin (in W. and C. Asia), this was along a restricted band of W. Asia to the W. Mediterranean." He also noted that "Turkestan, Afghanistan, and Kashmir mark the almond's eatern limit."

He wrote that in Western Europe, Provence is the northern limit of almond cultivation. Any search for old French recipes using "green almonds" would (I guess) have to concentrate on Provence, although I vaguely remember seeing almond trees and orchards as far north as the Loire (where, of course, the climate is generally mild). He wrote that the almond was being grown in the south of France as early as the 8th c BCE, and suggested that it was the Phoenicians (ancestors of modern day Lebanese) who introduced its cultivation.

A quick flip through the index of some of my favorite authors yielded little. I was surprised not to find a single mention in Patience Gray (Honey from a Weed) specially bec she writes so beautifully about Catalunya, one of the important almond growing regions of the world. There was nothing in Paula Wolfert which also surprised me, bec pickled young almonds and young almonds used in stews are well-known Moroccan dishes. A quick look through Clifford Wright also left me empty-handed. There's nothing in Waverly Root (both the Food of France and the Italy book). Colman Andrews (Catalan Cooking) wrote about discovering the superiority of Mallorcan, Ibizan, Tarragonan almonds to Californian but says nothing about green almonds. Also checked several Lebanese, Persian, Israeli (nothing in Joan Nathan) and Jewish cookbooks.

Finally hit a jackpot when I discovered a splendid recipe in Claudia Roden (the volume on Jewish Food) for "Agneau aux fe`ves vertes et aux amandes". She notes that this is an ancient Berber dish (Morocco) and as the seasons for green almonds and springtime favas coincide, the dish is usually made during the Passover season (served between Purim and Pesach//elsewhere, I learned that Iraqi Jews nibbled on green almonds seasoned with salt and pepper while the Haggadah is being read). Her recipe actually calls for blanched almonds although she notes that the original dish is made with the small unripe fruit. I don't have the recipe with me at the moment, but remember it as being quite simple. Lamb is browned, and then simmered in water/salt/pepper/a bit of mace until tender. Two chopped onions are sauteed and stirred with the green almonds, favas and honey into the stew. My! I will have to find someone to make me this dish this spring!

Olney, of course, mentions green almonds. This occurs three times in the index to his coffee-table volume on Provence. He says that green almonds are usually chopped up and used in omelettes (he gives a recipe for zucchini and green almond omelette), salad and dessert. He notes that the season in Provence is late June/early July (more on the season for this state of the fruit later). He also gives a recipe for a mace'doine of fruit in Bandol wine. Since he provides this recipe from the Var, I thought that the cookbook he wrote with Lulu (Madame Lucien Peyraud of Tempier) would defintely have another recipe. But I didn't see any on one quick look-through. There's nothing in his other books either. And nothing either in the first cookbook of one of his most famous disciples, Alice Waters.

I have not yet searched carefully through the cookbooks of celebrity chefs (but found one recipe for a peach/green almond dessert in Roger Verge's book on fruits). A colleague familiar with the European Michelin circuit told me that it is becoming the ingredient-of-the-moment! He said that it has been spotted at Raco de Can Fabes, Santi Santamaria's Michelin 3-star a short drive away from Barcelona. I had not thought to check my El Bulli cookbooks but will comb through Ferran Adria's (and Alberto's!) recipes tonight to see if anything could be found.

Did a little website search as well. Found lots of references to salted green almonds enjoyed as street food or as a snack item in the context of Lebanese, Syrian, Israeli, Iraqi, Iranian cultures.

Also found the ff recipe from Lokriya for a Kashmiri (or is it Jammu?) dish calling for mutton and green almonds. Zim, better learn to cook this. I am coming to eat this at your house in the summer ;)!

Finally, a question on the season. A google search yielded THE old ReneG post from 1999? or 2000? saying that he found some green almonds at Andy's. It was a post dated May 5, so Annie and Nazerac, I don't think that we will be seeing any this year at Eastertime specially since Easter will be early this year. The Middle-Eastern season seems to be as early as March/April. As noted above however, Olney talks of July as the season in the Var (flowering would then be Feb/March). There is also a famous proverb from the French rural calendar that goes: "Pour la Saint Berthe, se cueille l'amande verte..." (i.e. on Saint Berthe's feast day-July 4, check the state of the almond fruits to see if the pits are hardening...). Apparently, green almonds are also traditional in Sevilla during the Vela de Santa Ana (late July) but in this case, I am not sure anymore if we are talking of the almond in the same stage of unripeness/development as that preferred in the Middle East or if we are talking of something else.

Finally, one little question about why, given the importance of the almond industry to California, no one has thought to market the green unripe fruit. Could it be that this is not thought to be profitable enough to sacrifice? Could it be bec of the fuzzy skin which is thought to be potentially off-putting? Could it be folk wisdom (i.e. folk prejudice) about the green fruit being poisonous (some varieties of almonds do have some poison in them)? Or could it be that the cultivars most planted/preferred in California are diff from those in the MEast and just do not produce young fruit that is as alluring? Could it be that it has simply lacked a powerful advocate among celebrity chefs?

RST

Link: http://www.lokpriya.com/cuisine/jammu...

[zim]

Richard,

It slipped my mind to ask family for green almond recipes, I'll try to do that soon.

the recipe you provide for kalia is one one of the three classic "curries" of kashmir (IMO), the other 2 being rogan josh (which rely on the red chilis that kashmir is famous for throughout India) and yakhni. I've more often seen dried apricots (quirbani) used than green almonds, both are also sometimes used inside kofta (meatballs in curry) as well

btw, I make a good kalia, but you have to taste my yakhni (for rogan josh, it pains me to say it but my sister's is the best i've tasted in the US, better than mine, better than anything in a restaurant , even better than what i've had at kashmiri association gatherings)

[RST]

Just like Oedipa Maas in Pynchon's Crying of Lot 49, or like Isadora Cohen of rec.food.cooking (see ReneG's link), who, the moment she posted on green almonds, just could not stop finding more and more recipes for it coming her way, I have also been seeing an endless network of signs, a "conspiracy" of "green almonds" everywhere I turn.

I was just at a bookstore and of course, two recently published books (both from 2002) HAD TO HAVE green almonds recipes in them (this is the universe 'validating' me, in the same way that the City validates Oedipa Maas, and drives her mad).

Alice Waters' new "Chez Panisse Fruits" has a recipe from Madame Lulu of Tempier (ah, bien sur!) for macerated green almonds and (I think) apricots. Judy Rodgers' New Zuni Cafe Cookbook actually has green almonds right on the picture of the dust jacket. Hers is an intriguing recipe for prosciutto, nectarines and green almonds (I think on p84/5).

But note the trickiness and the confusion in the usage of the term "green almonds". Just as the Filipino make use of jackfruit (langka) in several different stages of unripeness, the chefs here also seem to be referring of two different stages of the almond fruits' development. Alice Waters' green almonds seem to be closer in its state of unripeness to Nazerac's "young fruits with still liquid centers" which is apparently the preferred type for munching (and for adding to stews?) in the Middle East. On the other hand, Rodgers' green almonds (soft, fully-formed seeds though pit has not yet hardened) correspond (I think) to what the Spaniards call "almendras tiernas" (Catalan: ametlles tendres), a form that is greatly valued in the cuisines of the peninsula and called for in a lot of recipes. The fruit by this stage has lost its jelly-like character and has probably become too tough (?) to eat or to use in salads/omelettes etc. This is closer to the stage of the fruit that my wine mentor handed to me, which is why I got a bit confused when Nazerac started talking about eating the young fruit whole, as is.

I think that I am beginning to see some light and some clarification on this subject and cannot wait for spring to come around so that I can see and taste for myself.

****

Re: dates (see discussion in the post below)
Alain Ducasse's Harvesting Excellence has a fascinating discussion on date-growing in the Coachella Valley (near Palm Springs, CA, i.e. high temperature, low humidity) and the many different varieties of dates (Barhi etc) that have become available.

RST

[Paula Wolfert]

I'd like to add my two cents worth on the green almond to the very interesting commentary from your correspondent RST. My own experience concerning the Mediterranean consumption of green almonds begins in early spring. I've been with sophisticated circles in Istanbul and other Eastern Mediterranean cities, and one star of the mezze table is the crisp, fuzzy, bright, mid-green ovoid almond fruit. This fruit
has an intense sour taste that reminds me a little of sour green grapes, and is quite delicious when accompanied by a glass of anise-perfumed raki.
Istanbulites will split the hull in half, discard the membrane and the gelatinous liquid, then use a silver pair of tongs to pickup one of the halves, moisten it with water, dip it into salt, then pop it into their mouths. In late spring the hulls are soaked in salt water overnight to remove some of the sourness.
By mid-summer this fruit mutates. The membrane turns into a hard shell, and the fluid inside turns into what we know as the moist, somewhat firm, sweet tear-drop shaped fresh green almond, eaten in salads, or soaked in salted water with a little milk to
firm it up so it can be sliced or sauteed.
Gascon-born Laurent Manrique, chef at the San Francisco restaurant Campton Place, celebrates the seasonal arrival of sweet green almonds by constructing an entire meal devoted to them. One
of his best green almond dishes consists of gently sauteed "firmed up" almonds, which he then scatters over a brilliant fig marmalade.
In Tunisia, sweet green almonds are scattered over orange and mint salads; Moroccans stew them in a butter-rich kdra style tagine, along with chicken.
I remember trying to duplicate the texture of soft, delicately-flavored fresh green almonds in my first cookbook,Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco. It took two hours of simmering to transform ordinary blanched almonds to the proper soft
state. Years later I learned that Moroccan cooks often simulate the texture of these sweet almonds by soaking dry almonds overnight in water with a tiny pinch of baking soda. If you try this, be sure to thoroughly rinse the almonds to remove the soapy flavor of the
soda.
By far the most famous Mediterranean recipe for fresh almonds is the white gazpacho of Andalusia. Spanish cooks will often soak dry almonds in cold water overnight to make them creamier, before drying and pounding them to a smooth paste to make the unctuous,
almond-garlic soup, ajo blanco.

[zim]

the soaking the almond trick is one I've also seen in kashmiri cooking. Though i've never heard that it was to simulate the green almond, it helps quite a bit in removing the skin of the mature almond, which you would always do in using almonds there.

[Jim S.]

That just reminded me of waiting for a bus in some small town in Costa Rica. An old man was walking around yelling "manguns, manguns". It was strips of unripe mango with lime and salt. I want some more of those. Very refreshing on a hot day.

[JeffB]

Green Almonds in Chicago are old hat. I'd love to see State St. and Marshall Field's like this . . .

Link: http://www.classicreader.com/read.php...

[RST]

Jeff,
That's a great story! Where DID you dig that up!? I am assuming that Edna Ferber was describing State Street in the 1920s. Where, or how would they have gotten mameys or green almonds! The ending is hilarious and vintage Ferber! Maymey from Cuba indeed! A great read: thanks for the link! Now someone needs to go through the archives of Newberry Library and the Historical Society to see if "green almond" occurs in any diaries etc. I wonder if the Glessners and other families ate these delicacies back in the 1880s, 1890s...

The funny thing is that Fox and Obel, today, does NOT offer either mameyes or green almonds. Not too long ago, I heard Jonathan Rosenbaum talking about the availability/distribution of films in Chicago. He was discussing the homogenization of choice and the stranglehold of the large media industry conglomerates on the market today. He said that most people assume incorrectly (bec of Chicago's wealth of repertory houses, theaters, festivals) that we have an extraordinary range of access in viewing. The situation, he said, may in fact be less impoverished than it was 15 years ago, but it still represents an enormous step backwards compared to the wealth of availability 35 years ago. Even the kinds of films that we call "alternative" or "non-mainstream" (cf Sundance etc) today are in fact controlled and heavily subsidized by these conglomerates. 35 years ago, there was so much less homogenization of the channels of the market and so much less homogenization/dumbing-down of desire. There was real choice.

After we have allowed all the giant corporations (Jewels, Dominicks, Starbucks, Osco, Home Depot etc) to pave everything over in endless malls and to standardize our neighborhoods with miles of deadening concrete, we pat ourselves on the back for our one or two "boutique" choices.

So much for all the yuppies' self-congratulatory platitudes about how Chicago has progressed...

RST

[joan]

actually, the feta as sold at al-khaym is in the deli, in salt water tubs. dont know if it was originally canned. the danish, turkish are canned in the refrigerator. while i liked the bulgarian a lot, i had been looking for a mild goat or sheep feta, like fresh fields used to sell. they called it 'mediterranean', i believe, and packed it for retail in deli containers. it was incredibly creamy and not terribly salty. the owner of al-khaym suggested i try their french feta next time, implying that is would be milder. i like an open faced sandwich of hearty italian or country bread, with a drop of mayo, feta, fresh dill and pine nuts sprinkled on top, run under the broiler till the cheese starts to puff and brown at the edges. really good.

[zim]

Nazerac thanks for the almond tip.

This is based on kashmiri recollections not california but the trees blossom in spring (late march early april) where the annual blossoming is treated as a community festival (Sonth), families took fine rugs, samovars and full picnic spreads to be enjoyed in the mughal gardens under the blossoms. The trees bear fruit in late july/august.

Some of my fonder memories were visiting around the age of 13 and running around my grandfather sister's family's orchards with cousins and their cousins engaging in running missile fights with the nuts/fruits. Unfortunately those days are over in the valley (my grandfather's sister and clan had to leave as refugees due to the war)

Now I need to find some green/baby walnuts -So green they have to be extracted from the fruit carefully so that the pigment from the fruit doesn't dye your hands

[RST]

Just a great little Proustian recollection. Thanks for that. We need to organize a little Chicago-board nut fight this summer. That'll help burn off some of the excess energy off us (me!) more opinionated posters ;).

Re: tender green walnuts
I don't know if the Black Walnut variety produces the same kind of tender kernel, but if it does, we'll have to find you an old-time (to 19th c) orchard in Georgia (the state) to go to for a visit.

RST

[dougk]

My recollection of black walnuts is that when picked early they were pretty bitter. There are still some trees behind my grandmothers' house in Lytle, Ohio if you care to make the drive. Better were the hickories that grew on the farm there, we would pick them off the ground, take them back home and spend hours cracking them and eating them on the porch.