Nocino: A Winter Walnut Liqueur That Begins In Summer
As a child I associated green walnuts being hurled at me by my older brother. If I was quick enough, they would hit the side of the fort in a forceful splat. Ever since, I have associated their smell with Summer.
As an adult, I have put walnuts to less abusive uses. At Spring Bird, we have eaten them (very laborious and messy). We have dyed yarn and fabric with them (relatively less laborious and messy), AND a couple years back, we made Nocino, a walnut liqueur popular in Italy.
While the Italians may be famous for making a liqueur out of walnuts, they were certainly not the first to do so.
In fact, according to Roman historians, Romans encountered the Picts in Britain who collected the walnuts on June 24th to celebrate the Summer Solstice. In fact the drink began even earlier with the Druids, who had very strict instructions for collecting the walnuts,
“The walnuts must be in odd numbers, and must be picked by hand by an expert woman, climbing a walnut tree barefoot, on the night between the 23rd and 24th June. Then the walnuts were left on the grass to become impregnated with the special dew of the magical night.” From Italy Heritage
With the Christianization of Europe, Nocino became associated with John the Baptist Day instead of the Solstice.
In Italy, stories were told of witches who were very fond of nuts and would come steal them on the 24th of June. So, farmers would make bonfires to keep the witches away. The bonfires also became a central point to gather friends and neighbors and have a party.
To brew a truly authentic Nocino, you have to use the walnuts from the Emilia Romagna Region of Italy (Bologna).
Italians usually take their first sips of Nocino in December during winter festivities, but Italians use a European walnut that is milder than our black walnuts, which tend to be more bitter. If your liqueur is too bitter, wait until Spring to begin consuming. OR even better, enjoy it the following Summer – poured over ice cream! It’s delicious! Cheers!
Nocino Recipe
SUPPLIES:
Green walnuts 25-30 nuts (early in the season so that could be easily cut with a knife. In Italy they try to gather them in the end of June, but it might be later if you are in a colder climate)
A couple of cinnamon sticks
5-10 whoe cloves
A piece of a vanilla bean
The zest of a lemon (or an orange)
2 ½ cups of sugar
Litre of vodka
Optional: other spices like star anise or maise
DIRECTIONS:
- Wash, dry, and quarter the walnuts. (Wear gloves. They will stain your hands.) Each batch of nocion will vary depending on the taste of that year’s nuts.
- Put all ingredients, except walnuts, into a large glass container and stir until the sugar is dissolved.
- Add the walnuts and mix.
- Tightly seal the glass jar or container. (We divided our mixture between two glass ball jars with metal lids).
- Leave nocino mixture on the counter for 6 – 8 weeks. Shake the contents every day!
- After the shaking period, filter the mixture through cheesecloth or coffee filter into glass bottles.
- Then let the liqueur sit until Winter. Traditionally it is drank on Christmas in Italy. You can taste it in December to see if it is ready to drink. If it is still bitter, allow it to sit longer and drink in Spring!
- Store in a cool, dark place. Should keep for several years.