Almond Milk

Almond milk is the elder statesman of plant milks: blend almonds with water, strain, done. Medieval cooks in the Middle East and Europe prized it as a Lenten staple that kept without refrigeration, and recipes turn up in a thirteenth-century Baghdadi cookbook and countless European manuscripts. Today it's the world's most popular nut milk. Light-bodied, faintly sweet, clean finish. Unsweetened versions are low in calories, and barista blends froth well enough for a decent flat white. Pour it over cereal or granola, whisk it into porridge, blend it into smoothies, bake with it — the gentle flavour lets other ingredients lead. It won't dominate anything, which is rather the point.