Here is the “other” black walnut project I have been working on in addition to the nocino. I am working on preserved walnuts. Not pickled, mind you. This is important to understand because these come out as soft, sweet little baklava-tasting delights! I have been fascinated by this ever since my friend Terrie gave me some to try back in January. Reading up, this is an Armenian tradition… and I hear that you can maybe find these at Armenian groceries… but I know of none nearby me. At first bite, I said, “oh, I gotta try to make these.” She concurred. Notice how one immediately found its way on to a bit of Brie that I made. You can see that the nut is not at all formed… and it appears the walnut shell actually formed and it should be rock-hard… but really, it’s soft, and has a hard-to-explain texture that I’ll just leave at divine. Oh… I should mention they are best served cold too. I would never have believed it. Turns out, you can order these exact ones online at Murray’s Cheese as a compliment to a meat and cheese plate. You’re welcome. Now, on to trying to replicate…

I started with “green” walnuts that had to be smacked off the tree prematurely. My friend Jim had a great tree, but it was big… and that meant a ladder, and a long pole to smack them off. I got a 5g bucket full… which turns out, goes a long way. I ended up making a double batch of nocino and a double batch of preserved walnuts and still threw out almost half a bucket full. For the preserved walnuts, we have to peel the skins. I started with a potato peeler and it worked pretty well… then after understanding you have to poke some holes in them, I took the corer off my apple peeler, stuck them on and turned them through. It too worked OK, but if the nuts were odd-shaped, you had to come back and fine tune it with the peeler. I made it through, and of course, yes… you should wear gloves. When young, the juice is clear as you are peeling… but then it darkens and will stain your hands… and the table. My wife loves the new dark spots on the table from the splashes off the cutting board.

So, we have them peeled and poked. Now, we soak them in clean water… and we dump and change the water 1-2 times a day for at least 10 days. I was pretty diligent about this and in fact, I’m on day 16 today because it has taken me a while to get back to this. During the soaking is where most of the bitterness is removed. The water turns foamy and dark… then you dump and change it out every day. On day 10, you can add in some pickling lime to the water for 24 hours if you want to keep a more firm preserve, just do one final clean soak with no lime before moving to the next step.

Today, I boiled a big pot of water then dumped the walnuts into it and let them boil for 20 minutes. Here, the water turns almost black and so do the nuts… (pics below). They are really soft now. I have them laid out on a towel to dry for a couple hours. For 130 walnuts, I’ll use about:

10-12 cups of water
4 lbs of honey (I’m thinking a maple syrup version next)
The goal with the above is to have a close ratio to nut and liquid. In the end, all of this syrup will be poured into the jars with the preserves. I’m shooting for a thicker syrup and may add more honey in the end (if needed) to achieve that.

This is where I am right now in the process. I will boil just the honey and water, then dump in the walnuts and cook them for 30 minutes. Since I can’t finish them tonight (they will be canned) I’ll cover and leave them to cool overnight to finish tomorrow.

Tomorrow, the plan is to reheat the nuts and syrup, adding in;

1 T citric acid (or 3 T of lemon juice)
2 t cardamom (or 4-5 crushed pods)
2 t cinnamon
1 split vanilla bean

I had considered some star anise, but saved that for the nocino. I can think of several other possibilities but will leave them for the next time.

Cook for another 20-25 minutes or until they have the desired firmness. The entire mixture, nuts, and syrup will be dumped into clean hot jars, and then canned in a water-bath.

I’d say they can be eaten immediately as they are already soft enough, but like anything, I suspect they’ll develop some character over time and I plan to keep some up on the shelf as long as possible. I’ll post the remaining pics soon but see my commentary on each pic for more detail.

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I have to give credit to Tim Artz at Tim’s Food Obsession for my discovery of Nocino. I discovered his blog, and Nocino about three years ago and per his instruction, have been making it each June ever since. It’s too easy and rewarding not to, and it harkens to my inner soul about capitalizing on what’s currently in season.

Tim instructs us on the 24th of June, collect 24 walnuts. Well, it was a little earlier than that for me this year, and I’m usually collecting many more so that I can also make the walnut preserves that I also like to make. I’ve found the preserves want the walnuts even younger. In both cases, it entails collecting young, green walnuts that have to be knocked off the tree. The idea is to collect them well before the shell begins to harden or nut begins to form. In my case, I’m collecting black walnuts here in SE Indiana.

Nocino is a thicker, dark brown liqueur originating in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. We try to collect the walnuts avoiding oxidation by not scaring them or leaving them to sit too long before placed in an alcoholic base. In this case, we use Everclear and steep the quartered walnuts for about 40 days along with other spices and flavorings.

Once steeping is done, it’s mixed with a simple syrup to sweeten. Nocino has an aromatic and bittersweet, flavor. Individual Italian families often have their own recipes that include variations like the addition of cinnamon, juniper berries, lemon or orange zest, vanilla pods, coffee beans, and clove. I can always dig into anything that encourages the imagination to run wild. So in my latest batch, here’s what I did.

Collect, clean and quarter the walnuts. I have recently read that boiling the walnuts ahead of time helps with the steeping stage. I plan to try this sometime. If there is one thing I’d like to have more control over, it’s the bitterness in Nocino. Last year, I ran it through a fine wine filter to get out the fine tannic-heavy particles that seem to settle on the bottom to see if it helps.

Load the ingredients into a jar and top up with 100% Everclear for the steeping stage. Keep track of how many liters of alcohol is used as this will be needed to calculate the sweetening stage later.

Once done steeping, about 40 days… strain out everything leaving just the liqueur and filter through whatever you have… I’ve tried coffee filters, layers of cheesecloth, and again, even a dedicated wine filter. The idea is to get out the black sediment that you will see that contributes to the bitterness. It does stop up the filters and takes a while for it to get through.

Measure your liquid volume and you will be cutting this to the proof you desire. Remember, this is still as hot as Everclear. Tim suggested 80 proof. I’m between there and 70 proof.  For each liter of alcohol you used, add 800 grams of sugar.  I used honey last year and did like it but I admit, I went by taste… since I had already cut the alcohol to a palatable proof. Heat just until your sweetener is dissolved. It takes no heat at all with honey since it’s water-soluble.

From here, I did add mine back to the bulk glass vessel and let it settle out for several more months racking it off the bitter sediment that settled to the bottom from time to time. I’m just now getting to bottle last years Nocino. I do believe a bit of bottle age is important just like in wine… so, we’ll give it another month or so before trying it out. After all, I have this years batch to keep me busy for a while.

I’d love to hear tips or ideas from others who make Nocino!

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