Nuts

Meal

Almond meal is a coarse grind of sweet almond kernels that still feels sandy and particulate rather than powder-fine. Millers leave a rustic texture—and often some brown skin—so the meal adds visible flecks, mild tannin, and a hearty crunch to cookies, crumbles, fish or vegetable coatings, and dense cakes. Compared with superfine flour, meal absorbs liquid more unevenly and browns with a deeper, toastier edge. Fresh meal smells nutty and clean, looks speckled beige to light brown, and tastes sweet rather than dusty. Stale meal smells like old oil or cardboard and can taste bitter at the edges. Toast it briefly in a dry pan to bloom aroma before folding into doughs, and store cool in an airtight jar because the exposed surface oxidises faster than whole kernels. Choose meal when texture and flecks are welcome; choose flour when you need a smooth macaron or pale sponge. Do not expect bread structure—eggs, starches, or other flours still carry lift. Weight, not scoop volume, keeps recipes consistent from bag to bag.