i bought these the other day thinking they were fresh almonds but not knowing any more than that. it turns out they are fresh green almonds which are only available for a few weeks each year.

apparently they are eaten raw. and whole. that’s right, give them a wash and then bite in through that soft fuzzy green skin and into the nut. the centre of each, which will form the almond itself, is at this young stage a slightly bitter flavoured gel. the flesh around it reminded me of the unripe (or only just ripe) slightly sour peaches which used to grown in our garden in malawi. interesting to try...

if anyone knows of other ways to eat/use them i'd love to know. and if you're in london and fancy trying them, i bought mine at the wonderful green valley on upper berkeley street, w1h 5qe.

having made a few batches of my mum's easy vanilla ice cream i decided to vary things a little and make a fruit ripple version.

400g of mixed berries were warmed through until they started to burst. i then pushed them through a seive to remove any seeds, and swirled this through the latest batch of ice cream. easy as pie and much more suited to this sunny weather that we're finally getting to enjoy!

this is part two of two about classes at eat drink talk. this review is written by my friend julia...

recently i attended a cookery class on the cuisine of bali and indonesia at eat drink talk in clerkenwell, central london. i love south east asian cooking, but didn’t know much about the cuisine from this part of asia, and was keen to learn more.

the class was taught by wonderfully knowledgeable and enthusiastic canadian jennifer klinec, in her airy loft apartment, whose homey setting contributed to the informal, friendly tone of the evening. nine of us—five women and four men, in their twenties, thirties and forties—sat around a huge custom-made table facing jennifer as she talked through the recipes, ingredients and techniques. we kicked off with a glass of iced, spicy indonesian tea (bandrek), spiked with a good slug of rum. on the menu was:

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rujak salad

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gado gado with peanut sauce

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balinese yellow curry with prawns and candlenuts

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nasi goreng

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tropical fruit salad with ginger toffee sauce

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this is part one of two about courses at eat drink talk.

i recently spent a very enjoyable evening in a clerkenwell loft learning how to make authentic mexican food. i was at an eat drink talk class with jennifer klinec and it was great fun.

as we arrived – ten people, which was a nice size as it made the evening feel quite intimate and asking questions easy – we were greeted with horchata, a mexican drink made from almonds and rice which was particularly good once it had been spiked with some dark rum.

the menu for the evening comprised:

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pollo en pipian

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baja fish tacos with salsa negro

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jicama and citrus slaw

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flour and corn tortillas

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guacamole

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plantanos con cajeta

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it’s not been a very healthy week for me – i’ve had several bugs, one after the other, and am still feeling a bit worn out and run down.

food has been quite low on my list of priorities however this pasta dish really did hit the spot! it’s very simple – a flavoursome tomato sauce with lots garlic, basil and a hint of chilli into which a handful of mozzarella cubes are added just before serving. the cheese slowly melts into the sauce and before you know it you’re twirling mozzarella strands round your fork as well as linguine.

the melting cheese was wonderfully comforting and the fresh tomato flavours made me feel like i was eating my way back to health. and as it was so delicious, i’d like to share this with ruth at once upon a feast for this week’s round of presto pasta nights.

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