• Post Reply Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
permaculture forums growies critters building homesteading energy monies kitchen purity ungarbage community wilderness fiber arts art permaculture artisans regional education skip experiences global resources cider press projects digital market permies.com pie forums private forums all forums
this forum made possible by our volunteer staff, including ...
master stewards:
  • Carla Burke
  • John F Dean
  • Timothy Norton
  • Nancy Reading
  • r ranson
  • Jay Angler
  • Pearl Sutton
stewards:
  • paul wheaton
  • Tereza Okava
  • Andrés Bernal
master gardeners:
  • Christopher Weeks
gardeners:
  • Jeremy VanGelder
  • M Ljin
  • Matt McSpadden

The Green Fruits of Black Walnuts - Making Edible Products From and With Them

 
Posts: 40
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan
3
  • Likes 2
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Black walnut fruits are the least-known super fruits, because most of us don't think of them as a fruits

I am right at this moment harvesting fresh green black walnuts and adopting recipes for a number of products that can be made from or with them. Has anyone done any of these?
  • a Noir Liqueur (Italians call it Nocino)
  • a Greek-Style Candied Black Walnut Spoon Desert
  • Pickled Green Black Walnuts

  • Btw, the green black walnut fruit has 70–80 times as much Vitamin C, gram for gram, than oranges do. I am testing these recipes at each step, with testing strips, to see where the Vitamin C goes (or, rather, how it is kept) in the final product.
     
    steward
    Posts: 1202
    Location: Torrey, UT; 6,840'/2085m; 7.5" precip; 125 frost-free days
    136
    goat duck trees books chicken bee
    • Mark post as helpful
    • send pies
      Number of slices to send:
      Optional 'thank-you' note:
    • Quote
    • Report post to moderator
    Sign me up as beta tester
    We had some green walnuts in a sweet syrup at Christmas that were amazing. Wonder if one could do the same with pecans...
     
    pollinator
    Posts: 4328
    Location: Anjou ,France
    262
    • Likes 1
    • Mark post as helpful
    • send pies
      Number of slices to send:
      Optional 'thank-you' note:
    • Quote
    • Report post to moderator
    We are trying making what is known as Walnut wine here in France
    Take thrirty crushed green walnuts add to 1 litre of spirit and some spices ( cinnamon nutmeg etc ) leave for three months and dilute with red wine ( three litres ) makes a great before meal tipple .

    David
     
    Terry Paul Calhoun
    Posts: 40
    Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan
    3
    • Mark post as helpful
    • send pies
      Number of slices to send:
      Optional 'thank-you' note:
    • Quote
    • Report post to moderator
    The wine is also on my list, David.

    I am just loving the smell of these fruits as we harvest them.
     
    Posts: 43
    Location: NH
    1
    forest garden hunting trees
    • Mark post as helpful
    • send pies
      Number of slices to send:
      Optional 'thank-you' note:
    • Quote
    • Report post to moderator
    I believe I have a couple of english walnuts on my property but since there are so few nuts on the two trees I have I wont be using the green fruits for anything.
     
    pollinator
    Posts: 4140
    Location: Kansas Zone 6a
    327
    • Likes 2
    • Mark post as helpful
    • send pies
      Number of slices to send:
      Optional 'thank-you' note:
    • Quote
    • Report post to moderator
    We use them for tincture because they are super medicinal, but so tannic I never thought about eating them!

    You have me curious.
     
    Posts: 46
    1
    • Likes 1
    • Mark post as helpful
    • send pies
      Number of slices to send:
      Optional 'thank-you' note:
    • Quote
    • Report post to moderator
    I make nocino! Makes a good syrup base for pouring over ice cream or flavoring drinks.

    I also tincture for medicinal purposes. It makes a decent mouthwash for those with dental issues too.
     
    Posts: 89
    Location: San Francisco, CA for the time being
    9
    6
    • Likes 1
    • Mark post as helpful
    • send pies
      Number of slices to send:
      Optional 'thank-you' note:
    • Quote
    • Report post to moderator
    Haven't made these, but they're very intriguing:

    "Spiced Green Walnut" confiture recipe from Christine Ferber's book, "Mes Confitures"

    "Pickled Walnuts" recipe from Jacosta Innes's book, "The Country Kitchen Cookbook," which, she describes as being "the most elegant accompaniment to a really good cheese."

    "Vin de Noix" (walnut wine), two variations, from Georgeanne Brennan's book, "Aperitif"

    I have sipped Vin de Noix on several occasions in France, and it is delicious.


     
    Posts: 263
    Location: Western Massachusetts (USDA zone 5a, heating zone 5, 40"+)
    20
    urban
    • Mark post as helpful
    • send pies
      Number of slices to send:
      Optional 'thank-you' note:
    • Quote
    • Report post to moderator
    The Armenians preserve them in syrup as a dessert, but when I had them I found them so tannic as to be almost inedible. Mixed with other things (ice cream, maybe) it would be an interesting flavor, though - much as a little bit of pomegranate molasses goes a long way.
     
    Posts: 11
    • Likes 5
    • Mark post as helpful
    • send pies
      Number of slices to send:
      Optional 'thank-you' note:
    • Quote
    • Report post to moderator
    Could you just pick the green walnuts prick them with fork then pickle them in the vinegar?

    Everyone says “soak them in salt water for a week, then strain and soak for another week” to get out that substance tannins that has a strong flavour.

    Tannins are traditionally moderated by aging: air seeps around the lid over its years in the cellar, and the oxidized tannins gradually bind to one another, and settle out as sediment. Typically this must be done very slowly, or the oxygen will attack flavors other than the tannin,

    I tried just piercing with a fork several times then going straight into the vinegar and spices and left them for a long while, it’s a much deeper flavour.

    But someone told me tannins could be poisonous or something well I have never had a bad stomach or anything.

    I really can’t find any answers online why pickled walnuts always are soaked in salt water for a few weeks

    I hope someone on here knows
     
    steward
    Posts: 17438
    Location: USDA Zone 8a
    4458
    dog hunting food preservation cooking bee greening the desert
    • Likes 4
    • Mark post as helpful
    • send pies
      Number of slices to send:
      Optional 'thank-you' note:
    • Quote
    • Report post to moderator
    Hi, Dave

    I can't answer your question though I thought other folks might find these threads interesting:

    https://permies.com/t/1674/green-walnut-wine-nocino-food

    https://permies.com/t/130504/Making-North-American-version-Nocino

    https://permies.com/t/45672/Cooking-Challenge-processing-eating-fresh
     
    gardener
    Posts: 372
    190
    personal care foraging urban books food preservation cooking fiber arts medical herbs ungarbage
    • Likes 2
    • Mark post as helpful
    • send pies
      Number of slices to send:
      Optional 'thank-you' note:
    • Quote
    • Report post to moderator
    Nocino is one of my favorite liqueurs to make!
    When I was a kid, I remember black walnut ice cream. I never see it anymore! But I remember it falling in the flavor category of a good pistachio or butter pecan (with the obvious flavor difference of the nuts) and being really delicious.
    I think that sitting around and cracking and picking nuts used to be more of a social activity, a way to socially pass time with a productive result. It seems like black walnuts are best harvested by hand and the decreases in people doing that kind of hand work has led to a decrease in the availability and popularity of black walnut foods.
     
    pollinator
    Posts: 126
    Location: Western Oregon (Willamette Valley), 8b
    63
    forest garden foraging food preservation fiber arts medical herbs seed writing
    • Likes 2
    • Mark post as helpful
    • send pies
      Number of slices to send:
      Optional 'thank-you' note:
    • Quote
    • Report post to moderator
    You've all got me convinced to try out making nocino for the first time this year. We have some beautiful old black and english walnut trees and the green walnuts look to be just at the right stage for harvesting right now.

    I'm trying to decide if I should use everclear or 100 proof vodka as the spirit. Whatever I do, it will be a year or more until I get to see how it turns out, but hopefully well worth the wait.

     
    Sunglasses. AKA Coolness prosthetic. This tiny ad doesn't need shades:
    Learn Permaculture through a little hard work
    https://wheaton-labs.com/bootcamp
    reply
      Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
    • New Topic