Green walnut

Noix verte

What it is

The traditional date is Saint John's Eve, the twenty-fourth of June, and the test is a needle: if it passes clean through the whole fruit, shell and all, the walnut is still soft enough for nocino or vin de noix. The window runs about ten days, after which the shell has begun to harden and the fruit is fit only for brining.

In the kitchen

Wear gloves, and do not use a wooden board: the juglone in the green husk stains skin brown for a week and wood permanently. Prick or halve them before they go into spirit — whole fruit steeps far too slowly.

Goes with

White sugar Clove Cinnamon Lemon Vanilla Dark rum

Same species

Fresh walnut Grenoble walnut Périgord walnut Pickled walnut Walnut Walnut oil

In season alongside

Epazote Rocket Sweetfish (ayu) Water pepper (tade / benitade) Bitter melon Bog myrtle

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