Almonds
Almonds used to be called amygdalus communis - which give rise to all sorts of strange names for almond-shaped decorations, but now they are prunus dulcis for sweet almonds and prunus amar for the bitter. It’s a shame about the name change, because I would have been all set up for bad Star Wars jokes otherwise.
In Turkish they are badem, in French amande, in German mandel, in Italian mandorla (which is handy to know if you are an art-enthusiast), in Spanish almendra, in Japanese hentou, and in Hebrew they are shaked which is the term also used for tonsils. Female French lovers of almonds are amantes des amandes, which is cute.
The English name comes from the Latin, while the Latin name comes from the Greek. Almonds themselves didn’t originate in Greece at all, though. Almonds are originally from Asia and Africa.
To keep things historic, there are some great medieval French and English almond-based recipes. My favourite is an apple-almond pudding - light and delectable. Almond is, of course, the base for marzipan, though whether it is the sweet almond we know and love or the bitter almond some Malaysian friends once fed me in a soup is something about which I have seen different opinions in different recipes - whichever you choose, just make sure it is a non-poisonous variety, since almonds are related to other kernels which have more than their share of prussic acid.
What I love about almonds (and nuts in general) is their amazingly high oil content. You can actually light almonds (kemiri and macadamias, too, but almonds are more flame shaped, which makes lighting them most impressive) - just lop a bit of the base so they will stand upright, and they’re ready to go. Who needs candles on a birthday cake?
Note: I am incredibly artistically inclined (don’t laugh, that was meant sarcastically) and from here on in will code the posts about specific ingredients with the picture used here. The picture will help you spot the posts about ingredients and it will save me from having to hunt down photos of grains of paradise. 
March 1st, 2007 at 7:41 pm
I think the amygdala (a region of the brain) is supposed to be shaped something like an almond.
March 1st, 2007 at 8:07 pm
I think you’re right. I have noticed that when you start thinking about a word it appears *everywhere”?
Now i hae to wonder if the Star Wars characters was named after a brain bit or a food bit or an art bit.