ALMOND CREAM AND RASPBERRY PURÉE
One of Altamiras’s sweet dishes that’s still delicious today is a nut cream noted on medieval menus as aristocratic eating under various names such as armendolada and ametllat. De Nola considered it food for the sick and convalescents and gave several recipes to which he added flavourings such as rose water and pumpkin seeds. Using modern kitchen technology the cream, thickened with bread, is very easy and quick to make although you need to be sure you use small, fibrous dryland almonds of whatever variety. Marcona is ideal, but the smaller snap-dry varieties like Largueta work well too. You can add back in De Nola’s aromatic flavours and seeds although I prefer to offer a jug of a very tart fruit sauce, such as a sieved berry purée, to splash over the top.