so many almond trees and no almond extract to be found

candice · #1 08-13-2007, 08:03 PM

Does anybody know anything about why there seems to be no almond extract in the DR? There is much vanilla extract and it is very popular with tourists. Everywhere I go I see Almond trees and I just wonder why nobody seems to produce the extract? A man from India once told me that these almond trees of the DR are different and produce a more bitter fruit,(nut). I wonder if that is true. A diver from the Puerto Plata area once showed me how to use the almond tree to keep my diving mask from fogging up> I never use my comercial "Sea Drops" on my mask anymore, the almond tree works for a longer time.

Rocky · #2 08-13-2007, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by candice

Does anybody know anything about why there seems to be no almond extract in the DR? There is much vanilla extract and it is very popular with tourists. Everywhere I go I see Almond trees and I just wonder why nobody seems to produce the extract? A man from India once told me that these almond trees of the DR are different and produce a more bitter fruit,(nut). I wonder if that is true. A diver from the Puerto Plata area once showed me how to use the almond tree to keep my diving mask from fogging up> I never use my comercial "Sea Drops" on my mask anymore, the almond tree works for a longer time.

It could be, like you said, a different variety not suitable for the extract, but I can tell you from having fought with an almond husk, that it's as hard to get into as a coconut.
I wonder if it's simply a case of them not having the required machinery to shuck them.

Lambada · #3 08-14-2007, 02:21 AM

Almond extract is available at Tropical Supermarket in Puerto Plata. Brand is Delifruit, name is Extracto de Almendrá. Comes in plastic see though bottles, very inexpensive (compared to other countries) & it is made in Santo Domingo. On shelf near Vanilla Extract in Tropical.

Rocky · #4 08-14-2007, 06:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lambada

Almond extract is available at Tropical Supermarket in Puerto Plata. Brand is Delifruit, name is Extracto de Almendrá. Comes in plastic see though bottles, very inexpensive (compared to other countries) & it is made in Santo Domingo. On shelf near Vanilla Extract in Tropical.

Would you say that it's as good as any extract from elsewhere in the world?
I know our vanilla extract is considered to be world class.

Hillbilly · #5 08-14-2007, 08:48 AM

That's "almendra"--no accent mark...

While I tend to doubt that it is extracted from local almonds, my baking friends tell me that it is of a fine quality.

I have to agree with the OP, that it is curious that the almond grows so well in most parts, but there does not seem to be any commercial groves...have any of you seen one?

Could be a future venture. The trees grow quickly.

HB

Lambada · #6 08-14-2007, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hillbilly

That's "almendra"--no accent mark...HB

You are so right! I was about to say 'tell that to the guys who print the label'.............then I realised (today in the daylight) that there is a dirty smudge on my label which last night looked like an accent

.

The quality of the almond essence here is GREAT. I've used it to make marzipan (translation for N.Americans: almond paste

) and petit fours and the taste is better than the same item with similar ingredients which I used to make in UK.

Chirimoya · #7 08-14-2007, 03:16 PM

Are Dominican almond trees the same as the ones we get in Europe? I've never noticed the characteristic pinky-white almond blossom we get in the Mediterranean region in late winter/early spring on those trees in the DR.

Remember that the early Spanish colonisers gave names to the flora and fauna of the Americas a little haphazardly, naming them according to the things they reminded them of from back home. Sometimes the resemblance was very fleeting...

One example would be the amapola (poppy), which is the name they gave to a tree in the Americas, because the trees in blossoms looked like a bit like a poppy field. The same colour, anyway. No matter that one is a flower and the other is a tree. What they called ruisenor (nightingale) is actually a mockingbird.

Chris · #8 08-14-2007, 04:24 PM

Different almond trees and not quite suitable for making extract.

MalditoGringo · #9 03-22-2008, 01:17 PM

On Saturdays at the propane station on the Malecon between Nuñez de Caceres and the U of Caribe there is a guy that stops by in a little van selling almond juice. Really tasty. (by the way, don't buy propate there, their meters are about 20% overstated)

Anyway, he knows how to extract the juice and where to get the almonds etc. Maybe with a little help he could learn how to do extract. I want to teach him how to make Amaretto!