Spain and Thailand both cook with nuts, but they use them differently. In the savoury Spanish dishes below, almonds are ground or pounded until they disappear into a soup or a sauce. In several of the Thai dishes below, peanuts stay whole or in pieces, so you can see them and taste the crunch.
Spain: almonds that disappear into the dish
Almond trees grow across the Mediterranean side of Spain, and the nut turns up in savoury and sweet cooking. The best-known Spanish variety is the Marcona, a round, flat almond often fried in olive oil, salted and served as a bar snack.
In these classic dishes, the almonds are ground into something else:
- Ajoblanco: a cold white soup from Málaga, made from almonds, bread, garlic, olive oil, vinegar and water, traditionally served with grapes. Our cold soups guide compares it with gazpacho and salmorejo.
- Romesco: the Catalan sauce from Tarragona, made from dried ñora peppers, roasted tomato and garlic, almonds or hazelnuts, bread and olive oil. It is served with grilled vegetables and fish. Our alioli, romesco and nam jim guide covers it in more detail.
- Picada: a Catalan paste of pounded almonds or hazelnuts, garlic, fried bread and parsley, stirred into stews near the end of cooking to thicken and season them.
- Pollo en pepitoria: chicken in a sauce thickened with ground almonds and hard-boiled egg yolk.
Spanish sweets built on almonds
Many of Spain's traditional sweets are almond-based, a legacy often traced to al-Andalus (see our guide to the Arabic legacy in the Spanish kitchen).
- Turrón: the Christmas nougat of almonds, honey, sugar and egg white. Turrón de Alicante is hard, with whole almonds; turrón de Jijona is soft, with the almonds ground to a paste.
- Tarta de Santiago: the Galician almond cake, usually decorated with the cross of Saint James in icing sugar. See our Spanish desserts guide.
- Mazapán: marzipan, a paste of ground almonds and sugar, with a long tradition in Toledo.
Thailand: peanuts you can see
In Thai cooking the everyday nut is the peanut, thua lisong. It is usually dry-roasted and either crushed and added at the table, cooked whole into a curry, or pounded into a salad or sauce.
- Som tam, the green papaya salad: the central Thai version, som tam Thai, is pounded with roasted peanuts and dried shrimp.
- Phat thai: crushed peanuts usually come on the side of the plate, with lime, bean sprouts and chilli, so each diner adds them.
- Satay: the grilled skewers come with a peanut sauce, and with ajad, a cucumber relish.
- Massaman curry: a mild, rich curry that commonly includes whole peanuts along with potato.
- Miang kham: a snack of leaves wrapped around roasted peanuts, toasted coconut, lime, ginger, shallot, chilli and dried shrimp.
Cashews, met mamuang himmaphan, also appear, most famously in kai phat met mamuang himmaphan, a Thai-Chinese stir-fry of chicken, cashews and dried chillies.
How the two compare
- In ajoblanco, romesco, picada and pepitoria, ground nuts thicken the soup or sauce. In phat thai, crushed peanuts are added at the table; in massaman curry they go in whole; in som tam they are pounded with the salad.
- Both kitchens pound nuts in a mortar: almonds for picada and romesco, peanuts for som tam. Our gazpacho and som tam guide looks at pounding in both cuisines.
- Many traditional Spanish sweets are built on almonds; the Thai peanut dishes above are all savoury.
Where to try it
These venues' own records name a nut-based dish. Menus change, so check before you go.
- Ajoblanco, Mexico City: its record says its name refers to the almond gazpacho of Málaga and Extremadura and lists gazpachos among its specialties, but does not say ajoblanco itself is on the menu, so ask.
- Padron, Warsaw: its listing says it serves padrón peppers with romesco.
- Otaviano Restaurante - Leme, Rio de Janeiro: its record names tarta de Santiago among its homemade sweets.
- Fields Concord, Chengdu: its record lists a torrija with hazelnut cream and rum ice cream.
