[Sca-cooks] Almond milk question

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Also sprach AEllin Olafs dotter:
>So I'm finally trying this. Working with a recipe that blithely 
>tells me to take my good almond milk...
>
>Do I strain it first? I'm then going to be thickening it, and 
>draining it, and using everything left in the cloth... but I'm not 
>sure if "everything" includes the suspended solids or not. I do know 
>I should blanch the almonds first, so I don't have any peel, which 
>suggests I don't strain? I was originally assuming that to get milk, 
>I would - but now I'm not sure.
>
>AEllin

Period people used a fairly large amount of almonds to get a smallish 
amount of milk. They were known to re-use almond draff to get more 
than one batch of milk, just as brewers did to make different grades 
of ale. In general, though, almond milk was strained. The reason some 
modern recipes don't always recommend this is that they assume you're 
using a blenderrather than a mortar, and that any solids in your milk 
will be so finely ground as to be indistinguishable from the little 
curds you get when you cook the milk.

_Could_ be true! ;-) (Dat's da ticket!)

In any case, the theory behind almond milk is that some of the 
thickness comes from emulsified almond oil. some, perhaps, from 
gelatinized starches, but (again, in theory), almost none of it comes 
from almond solids. In practice this may not be completely true.

In theory, if you're using one of the neato fifteenth-century (I 
think I remember that was where they come from) English recipes for 
almond cheese and/or butter, you strain the milk. You blanch and peel 
the almonds first not so much to prevent coloring the stuff, but also 
to keep unpleasant tannin flavors from getting into your milk. For 
some savory applications (maybe mirrauste or Le Menagier's 
tile-colored dish) this is less of an issue, but I'm thinking you 
strain the milk, which will, we hope, still be fairly thick when 
you're done, if you did it right and used the right proportion of 
almonds to water, said your prayers, etc.

You then bring it to a boil and, depending on your recipe, curdle it 
like cheese with an acid, or simply boil it until the emulsion starts 
to break, the proteins start to coagulate somewhat, and it all 
becomes somewhat reduced, and you end up with what looks like 
significantly thickened almond milk. (I think the recipe you're 
talking about is the one that calls for boiling with no vinegar or 
other coagulant added; the one which, when sweetened, would make a 
great filling for cannole?)

Anyway, you boil your strained milk until it's thick, being careful 
not to let it burn (it thickens a bit faster than you might expect, 
and if you stir it frequently, it shouldn't burn). As it cools it'll 
thicken further. Pour this creamy stuff onto a suitable cloth, like a 
tea towel, which will absorb some excess liquid, without being nappy 
enough to get almond crud stuck in its fibers. You should be able to 
gather up the corners and let it hang up and drip, but it also 
shouldn't really be necessary unless you want it really solid. If you 
spread it fairly thinly on a large enough towel (and I suppose only 
experience will really settle these questions), it should become the 
consistency of a thick custard or ricotta fairly quickly. I believe 
the recipe says to sweeten the stuff.

As I say, it would be really good in cannole or perhaps in little 
tartlets (think in terms of an early frangipane cream).

Adamantius