From the trees in the fields to a plate in our kitchen
The New Year has come and the Christmas candy season is now over. I didn’t get a chance to share this with you during the Christmas weeks, but here is a little story about us making marzipan, and a little bit about almonds that you may or may not know!
To make marzipan from scratch is really simple: You give the almonds a quick boil, and leave them in the hot water for 10 minutes. You will now be able to peel them using only your hands. After peeling, you let them dry for a day. After they have dried, you finely grind the almonds in a blender, food processor, or whatever you like to use. Then, you measure the amount of almonds you have and add the equal part of powdered sugar. Also, add egg whites so it will stick together.
For example, we had 500 grams of almonds, 500 grams of powdered sugar, and almost two full egg whites (no more than that).Then, you knead it for a while until it has the marzipan feel to it. We shaped them into little balls and some of them we dipped in melted chocolate. Oooh, it is sooo good!
But, then comes the part we don’t think so much about… at least I don’t! Did you know that 80% of the world's almond production comes from California in the USA? The climate is ideal for intensive production, and it’s done on a big scale. A LOT of almond trees are on a HUGE area.
Every September, tons and tons of almonds are harvested by a mechanical shaker that goes along the rows of trees. They remain on the ground and dry a few days before they are swept along and sucked up by an enormous vacuum. The almond producers prefer a bare, hard-packed soil and nothing else between the trees for the highest efficiency and better almond hygiene. But this is where the industrialized farming becomes a problem…this also means that there is nothing to eat for miles around for natural pollinators like bees and other insects…and that's pretty tricky when the almond trees are actually dependent on pollination for there to even be almonds!
To cope with the lack of insects, those same producers ship honeybees from all over the country every February! Over one million beehives are transported through the United States on specially built trucks. More than half of all beehives in the United States are located in California every spring to make sure we can have Christmas marzipan…
That’s one side of the story… the really sad fact is that bees all over the world are not doing very well right now. The complex answer to the question “why” includes stress, pesticides and disease. We need bees in order to grow all kinds of fruits and vegetables, so the problem is an important one which I will come back to later in the spring when it’s time to look at our own bees here at the farm.
Meanwhile, let’s give some thanks to the bees, the precious pollinators of our planet, for the vital job they do-- We’ll definitely be giving gratitude while we eat our delicious marzipan :)
