[Christmas article: Holiday Histology: Identifying the Almond Gift Winner through Almond Pathology]

According to Danish Christmas traditions, on Christmas Eve, a whole almond is hidden in risalamande, and whoever finds it is the winner of the "almond gift". Disputes may arise if a whole almond is not found, and instead, slightly damaged almonds are presented in order to claim victory. Can we ascertain the nature of this damage - is it a lightly chopped almond, or was the whole almond accidentally bitten? We examined if histological assessment could reliably distinguish between different types of almond damage.

Blanched almonds (n = 24) were allocated to three groups: coarsely chopped using a food processor (n=8), coarsely chopped with a kitchen knife (n = 8), or subjected to a single bite (n = 8). Almonds were fixed, paraffin-embedded, and stained with periodic acid Schiff (PAS). A blinded pathologist evaluated each specimen macro- and microscopically and classified the type of damage.

All almonds were classified correctly, yielding a sensitivity and specificity of 100% for each group and an overall diagnostic accuracy of 100% (95% CI 86-100%). Food-processed almonds displayed small, deep surface defects, knife-chopped almonds showed smooth, regular margins, and bitten almonds exhibited irregular, frayed surfaces.

Routine histopathology can accurately differentiate between chopped and bitten almonds. In cases of doubt during the Christmas festivities, pathological examination may therefore assist in determining the legitimate almond prize winner and help preserve the Christmas spirit.