Elizabeth David is not the food writer you would immediately turn to for the perfect recipe for roasted, salted almonds but hers is a classic, made for her by Suliman, a Sudanese cook in Egypt and which appears in Spices, Salt and Aromatics in the English Kitchen. ‘Nothing yet invented so sets the gastric juices to work as the sight of a plateful of freshly toasted and salted almonds’.

The important points in the preparation of these almonds are that they must be ‘so dry from the slow roasting that they squeak when you bite into them’, their saltiness should not be overpowering and they must be made on the day they are to be eaten if they are to ‘retain their pristine freshness’.

In Elizabeth David’s recipe, the almonds are blanched, but I think they are equally good left with their skins on.

Put 250g almonds, blanched or not, into a baking tin. Turn them until they are coated in no more than a teaspoon of almond oil or melted butter. Slow roast them in an oven set at 160-170°C for 30-45 minutes or until the almonds are pale toast colour. Turn them onto greaseproof paper and toss them around with about three tablespoons of salt.

When cool, pick up the corners of the paper and form a little parcel. As Elizabeth David notes, ‘this part of the ritual is not so much a matter of witchcraft as of plain common sense. In my experience, it is necessary to conceal salted almonds from all eyes until the appropriate time comes for them to be produced’.

To serve shake the almonds free of excess salt and add ‘an infinitesimal sprinkling of cayenne pepper’.