Nocino, Bambino!

Indigenous Eastern Black Walnuts (Juglans nigra)

A couple of days ago I reported on my experiment to make Nocino, an Italian digestivo. I noted that I was using California sourced English walnuts (Juglans regia) because they don't grow readily on the East Coast of the US, where your 'umble blogster resides. Now, I'm no locavore - I'd never be able to give up coffee or bananas - but when possible, I like to get as close to home grown as I can get. So having gotten my "imported" brew started, I began a quest to see if I could find a local variant. In my web wanderings I had run across one or two suggestions that it is possible to use the native Eastern Black walnuts (Juglans nigra), so off I went on a quest to find a nearby source. If I could find a tree nearby I would be able to provide myself and those around me with a plentiful supply of Nocino and save myself the forty plus bucks to buy the nuts from California. I figure the sunshine state gets enough of my money for their wine.

I scoured the area only to find that at the end of the street on which I live there is a thriving colony of mature, healthy Black Walnut trees. Under my nose the whole time, hiding in plain sight. The trees are technically on the property of a somewhat protective neighbor, but several branches extend beyond their fence, overhanging the quiet country lane, so I figured anything I could pluck from them to be a common resource. Regrettably, all but a few of the lovely nuts were well above the reach of my modest wingspan, so I was forced to employ a pole saw in order to retrieve a sufficient quantity with which to concoct my coveted elixir. So, brazenly I strode down the street to the very fence line, 9 foot pole in hand. I thought the neighbor might have bothered me, but within a few minutes I was all finished collecting my couple dozen nuts and was once again on my way with no interference.

The Black walnuts have rougher skin and a distinct piney (some say minty) scent. The insides looked pretty much the same as the English nuts, and they seemed to have more liquid in the core. Once cut and in the jar they behaved exactly the same, oozing their sweet black nectar overnight. So, the experiment will be much fuller than originally anticipated. I'll have a batch of Nocino Traditionale and a batch of New World Nocino. I can hardly wait!

See Part I
See Part III

Further Reading
http://graduallygreener.wordpress.com/2009/07/08/foraged-nocino-green-walnut-liqueur/
http://greengabbro.net/2011/07/18/this-years-nocino-recipe/