Experience Israel’s almond blossom, one of the most beautiful events of the year

by Michael Sax
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The Almond Tree

This fruit tree is native to the Middle East, North Africa and the Indian subcontinent. Almond trees grow best in Mediterranean climates with warm, dry summers and wet winters. After an almond tree is planted, it can take a full five or six years to reach full bearing.

Almond Production

Almond trees produced 3.2 million tonnes of almonds in 2016. The United States contributed 63% of that. California has six different varieties of almond trees, spread over 1,000,000 acres. This crop value was $3.2 billion. In Spain, they are cultivated in Catalonia, Valencia, Murcia, Andalusia, and Aragón regions, and the Balearic Islands.

Safety

California has been pasteurizing almonds sine 2007. This gets rid of any salmonella.

Almond trees and Israel

The Bible mentions almonds many times. It is also mentioned in relation to the holiday of Tu B’shvat. The Book of Numbers describes an event. There was dissent among the tribes. God chose Aaron’s tribe – Levi. The sign for this was that his staff miraculously blossomed almonds.

Nutrition

Almonds are very healthy. They have a lot of energy. The almonds also have a lot of magnesium, phosphorous and iron. Some chefs use almonds to make almond milk and oil. People desire almond milk as a substitute for regular milk. People also make almond butter. In fact, there is more calcium in almond milk than cow’s milk!  Some popular almond recipes include almond-crusted Tilapia and chocolate covered almonds. Some use almond slivers in salads.  Another popular recipe is to roast almond slivers with green beans, tomatoes, and cheese. Of course there is the classic granola bar. For these, simply add chopped or sliced almonds to your granola recipe. Almonds taste great as a dessert or chopped inside chocolate chip cookies. If you search for maple almond cookies, you’ll be sure to find a tasty recipe, or at least one that you can adapt to meet your taste.

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