Some time ago
I wrote a post about a delightful homemade walnut
digestivo given to me by a friend from Switzerland. He knew of my love for Nocino from my raving about an experience from a few years back in a small Italian village in
Emilia-Romagna called
Brisighella and the alluring concoction they make there. Ah, the romance of Italy! The gustatory loveliness of Emilia-Romagna! The mystique of ancient tradition! What exotic luxury. Well, as it turns out Nocino is not as complicated as a Swiss watch, and the interweb is loaded with recipes for the stuff, so I figured, what the hell, and give it a try.
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| Time to make some Nocino |
But I don't live in Italy's breadbasket, so where on earth am I going to find green walnuts? It's nearly St. John the Babtist's day, the traditional day on which, with the dew still on them, you are to pick the unripe walnuts. Further complicating the matter is the fact that the recipe calls for the English walnut (
Juglans regia) which doesn't commonly grow on the East Coast of the US. We have Eastern Black walnuts (Juglans nigra) but not English walnuts. So, time to turn to Syber Space.
I found a farm in California called
Haag Walnut Farm that seems to specifically cater to the needs of Nocino makers among other walnut enthusiasts. Five pounds of green English walnuts for $42.25, shipped. I figure I'll get two batches of Nocino for that (25 walnuts apiece) so while it's certainly pricier than I might prefer, for the first batch I'm happy just to have found them. And the nuts themselves, which took about 5 days from the tree to my front door, are clean and largely free of blemishes. Given that
Nocino della Cristina Napa Valley Walnut Liqueur is sold for about $30 for a 375 ml bottle, I am happy.
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| Pure spirits! Grain alcohol and Grappa. |
I found some 4.2 liter jars at
the local Homegoods store that seem to be just about the right size. I then procured the appropriate quantities of
Everclear which in an unexpected twist proved both challenging and enlightening. I found myself in the state of Virginia last weekend and decided to pick up the booze there. It turns out though that in
the Old Dominion, the state monopoly liquor stores
refuse to sell neutral grain spirits, presumably on moral grounds. So, although I could have swung by the
Chantilly Gun Show and picked up an assault rifle and 30 round clip
with no background check, I could not buy pure grain alcohol there. To buy pure alcohol I'd have to go to either DC or Maryland. I guess there's a certain logic to states with strict gun control laws letting you buy strong alcohol and a state with virtually no gun control forbidding you to make "grain punch." I'm just confused about which one is the "nanny state." Anyway, upon returning to the People's Republic of Maryland I exercised my god given right to buy Everclear, and am now ready to make a delicate after dinner drink with it.
I have decided to start at the source and follow the "
Nocino Recipe According to the Ancient Tradition of the Order of Nocino Modenese" (PDF). As this is my first attempt, I am opting to keep it simple, using no lemon zest or cloves, ingredients found in lots of recipes. I have opted to use raw sugar rather than refined white sugar, and may add a touch of
Grappa to the mix in addition to the pure grain alcohol. I presume such choices will produce a distinct product I can call my own, and though I'm sure some Europeans I know will scoff at the raw sugar and the potential molasses flavor it may impart, I'm remaining stubborn on the issue.
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| Overnight the walnuts sweat their lovely nectar |
Having assembled all the ingredients, I started by putting on
some appropriate music to set the mood. I then proceeded to chop the nuts into quarters, 25 and 27 nuts to a batch, respectively. Like the admonition that you MUST pick the nuts while the morning dew of the
dia de San Giovanni di Battista is still on them, apparently you MUST use an odd number of nuts. Why? Probably some old wives tale. There do seem to be a lot of old wives in Italy.
Well, obviously my walnuts were picked before June 24, but I did indeed make sure to use an odd number of walnuts for each batch, in the hope that
the Jesus will smile down upon my little endeavor. I placed the walnuts in the jars with the sugar and set them where they would get some sun for a couple of days. By the time I looked at them first thing this morning, the jars had begun to fill with fluid. Ah, sweet sap of life! I will give them another day to ooze and then put the alcohol in. I'll post an additional update when there's something interesting to say.
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