Harvesting almonds the precursor to a heavenly taste

When I was very young, and slabs were cut from my mother’s home-made Christmas cake to be divided into fingers, I’d always get the outside finger, with marzipan not only on top, but running down the length of one side.

My appreciation of soft, fresh marzipan hasn’t staled in adulthood. In Spain, I discovered ‘turrón’, a Christmas sweetmeat invented by Moors (who have a taste for all things sweet) 500 years ago in Jijona, a village 48km north of Alicante.

Turrón de Jijona is my fancy; it’s soft and must, by law, contain at least 60% almonds, along with local honey and egg white to bind it. Turrón de Alicante is hard, and contains 64% almonds. Both are sold in cellophane-wrapped blocks, the shape of a medium-fat, paperback. With the Jijona turrón, one can see the almond oil inside.