1 of 1

Write now Article Tools

Pickled Walnuts and Walnut Sauce

The pickled walnut is a rare delicacy infrequently found in shops and mostly imported from England where it is traditional fare.

The shiny black pickled walnut resembles a black olive and is made from the whole fleshy nut before the hard kernel forms. It is eaten sparingly with the main meat course of dinner and provides a good color and taste contrast. Serve alone in a bowl, or in salad, or perched on top of mashed potato.

How to make them? First gather your walnuts. You are very fortunate if you have a walnut tree in your backyard or know of some growing locally. They must be harvested while unripe before the hard kernel has started to form. If a knitting needle can be pushed through the green nut without hindrance then all is well. This is mid-December in Australia or about mid-June in the US or UK.

A clothes basket full may hold about 250 walnuts which is enough to last a family a year or two, depending on your generosity to friends lacking a walnut tree.

Prick each one twice with a fork and cut off any stalks. Use rubber gloves to prevent yellow staining.

Fill up plastic buckets and cover with water. Add a heaped cup of salt to each bucket. The brine will become discolored and form froth after a few days. Renew the brine twice.

After about 10 days, wash the walnuts and spread them out on newspaper in the sun. They will go jet black in a day or so. Now they are ready for pickling.

Assemble all available crocks, preferably with lids. They are filled with the black walnuts and spiced vinegar. After six months they are ready to eat and will last for several years.

I use equal amounts of white and malt vinegar purchased in bulk. A concentrated spiced vinegar can be made by boiling up two liters with a commercial pickling spice mixture available at supermarkets. You can toss in more spices to your liking. Add this to top up your crocks.

Reserve some walnuts for a sweet pickle. Put about two kilos of black walnuts in a pot and boil them for 20 minutes in a spiced syrup.

For each liter of vinegar add 500 grams of brown sugar and a teaspoon of allspice and lesser amounts cloves, cinnamon and ginger. The sweet, spiced walnut is not available in the shops and is well worth the extra effort of making.

A further culinary delight is walnut sauce ... a rival of Worcestershire sauce. After consuming your first crock of pickled walnuts, you are left with a liter or two of black vinegary liquor. Don't throw it out! Put it in a pot and boil down to half its original volume.

The secret ingredients to add are brown sugar, molasses, minced garlic and ginger, crushed pepper corns, soy sauce and port wine, plus a few crushed pickled walnuts.

Simmer the mixture for 30 minutes. Cool, fine sieve and bottle. This gives a hot walnut sauce fit for a king.

Buen provecho!

Learn more about this author, Allan Taylor.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about How to make pickled walnuts?
We want to hear your view. Write now!