White blossoms in Catalonia yield an ancient delight, almost as much a part of life as the blue sky over the countryside. The Marcona almond is called “the Queen Almond” for its incomparable, delicately sweet flavor. Traveling and tasting throughout Eastern Spain in search of the perfect Marcona, we struck gold when we met Llorens who, believing in the essence of the almond itself, simply blanches and very lightly fries the nuts in extra virgin olive oil. The result is a macadamia-textured, perfectly salted, enticingly dry nut.

This is not an everyday almond, but go ahead, indulge!