In a pickle about walnuts

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In a pickle about walnuts

By Country Queries of The Field

Monday, 08 October 2007

When do I pick walnuts to pickle them and how do I pickle them? It will be my first crop from two young trees that are six or seven years old and 12ft high.

Answer:

The immature green fruit required for pickling needs to be harvested in the summer before the shell has formed. Check for the readiness with a pin: stick it in the end where the flower was and if the shell has started to form it will be about a quarter of an inch in.

For 2kg picked walnuts you require enough water to cover the nuts, 225g salt, 1 litre malt vinegar, 500g brown sugar, 1 tsp allspice, 1 tsp cloves, ½ tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp black peppercorns and 1 tbsp fresh grated ginger. Prick the walnuts with a fork and cover with water and the salt. Leave for a week, then drain and renew with a fresh brine solution for another week. Drain the walnuts and lay out on trays in a dry, airy place. After a few days they will have turned black. Combine the remaining ingredients in a saucepan. Bring them to the boil, add the walnuts and simmer for 15 minutes. Cool and spoon the nuts into large jars and cover with the liquid. They should last for years.

Harvest the matured nuts when the protective green hull containing the brown nut splits. A proverb, "A dog, a wife and a walnut tree; the more you beat them, the better they be," refers to the method used to fetch down the fruit and to break the long shoots to encourage the production of short fruit spurs.

Send queries to Rosie Macdonald, Country Queries Editor, The Field, Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark Street, London SE1 0SU or email Country Queries

The Field cannot accept any legal responsibilities for answers given in these columns.