Thin savoury crackers studded with Marcona almonds, from Lady Joseph in Spain.
Marcona is not a marketing word for “Spanish almond”. It is a specific variety, and it is genuinely different. Marcona almonds are rounder, shorter and flatter than the long, pointed Californian almonds most of the world eats; they contain noticeably more oil, which makes them softer and more buttery in the mouth; and they are sweeter, with less of the faintly bitter edge a Californian almond carries. They also yield less per tree and are more difficult to grow, which is why they cost several times as much and why they are usually treated as a delicacy in Spain rather than a commodity. The classic Spanish preparation — blanched, fried in olive oil, salted, served with a glass of sherry — exists because the variety can carry it.
In a cracker, that oil content does something specific. Fat carries aroma — most flavour compounds are fat-soluble — so a high-oil almond flavours the dough around it rather than sitting in it as a separate crunchy object. It is the difference between a cracker with almonds in it and an almond cracker.
How to serve them. These want salt, fat and acid alongside. A hard sheep's cheese — Manchego is the obvious and correct answer — or a blue, or a soft goat's cheese with honey. Membrillo. Olives. A dry sherry, a vermouth, or a cold fino, which is exactly what Spain does with almonds anyway. They are too characterful to be a neutral vehicle for a dip and are best treated as part of the plate rather than the base of it.
Allergen: almonds. Check the pack for the full list.
Storage: airtight, and eat them within a few days of opening. Nut-rich crackers go soft in humid air faster than plain ones, and Porto is humid. Three or four minutes in a low oven, cooled completely on a rack, brings them back — they crisp as they cool, not while hot.
Available at Só Verde, an organic concept store in Foz, Porto.
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