Almond preparations

PalmaThe folding chairs and rocking chairs swirled in groups from one end of the street to the other. My grandmothers, Aunt Magdalena and Mrs. Juanaina, sat in our midst. Further on were Mrs. Panerera and Mrs. Verda, and on the other side were Ms. Xisca from Can Feliu, Ms. Bet, and Ms. Tonina from Can Sastre. They began to enjoy the cool evening air before dinner, when the heat subsided and it felt better to be outside than inside the houses. When it was time to sit down to eat, the chairs were outside, alone, as if a cataclysm had made disappear the people who had occupied them until then. As the street filled with darkness, the neighbors reclaimed the street and the murmur of conversations and laughter resumed. We children went back and forth from one side to the other, from group to group; at times we played, at others we sat and listened to stories to pass the time. Sometimes someone brought out ice cream made with an almond preparation. We enjoyed the cool air. The street was ours.

Those almond preparations for making ice cream marked the summers of many Mallorcan families, especially between the 1970s and 1990s. They allowed for the simple preparation of homemade ice cream, without the need for an ice cream maker at a time when the availability of commercial ice cream and machinery was much more limited than today.

The preparations consisted of a concentrate of ground almond, sugar and flavorings, often lemon or cinnamon. Some brands added starch or other thickeners to achieve a finer and more homogeneous texture. It was only necessary to mix the preparation with hot milk or, according to the recipe, with a combination of milk and cream and leave it in the freezer. During the process, it was customary to stir it a couple of times or pass a hand blender through it to break up the ice crystals and thus obtain a creamier texture.

Almond is one of the most emblematic ingredients of Mallorcan gastronomy. In the kitchen, it has been an extraordinarily versatile product, present in both savory dishes and sweet preparations. Its presence has also left its mark on summer desserts. Almond ice cream, heir to traditional almond milk, is one of the most characteristic flavors of Mallorca and largely explains the success of these preparations.

During the seventies and eighties, supermarkets and grocery stores sold various preparations for making ice cream at home, mainly almond, but also hazelnut. Some were manufactured by companies specializing in ice cream and nut derivatives. Even today, they can be found thanks to some producers who have kept this tradition alive.

Plastic molds for making individual popsicles also became fashionable, which were filled with soft drinks or fruit juices and ended up occupying a corner of the freezer. That simple and homemade way of combating the heat became very popular at the same time that we used almond preparation at home.

The decline of these preparations arrived during the nineties. The generalization of freezers and the expansion of the offer of industrial ice creams, with a great diversity of flavors and formats, gradually relegated them to an increasingly testimonial role. However, summer nights on the street bring me back to that first homemade almond ice cream that announced that the holidays had already begun.

Today's recipe will not be made with a concentrate, but rather it is an interpretation of the almond ice cream from can Joan de s'Aigo published in the Book of ice creams and sorbets (Ed. Olañeta, 2000).