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To Pickle Walnuts

A method for pickling walnuts in a salted brine, then drying and storing them in jars.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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To Pickle Walnuts

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the brine

  1. Mix ¼ pound of coarse sea salt with 1 quart of water to make a brine.

Cure the walnuts

  1. Soak the walnuts in the brine for a week.

  2. Pierce the walnuts in six places with a larding pin to soften and flavor them.

  3. Place the walnuts in a saucepan with the brine and simmer gently.

  4. Drain the walnuts on a sieve and let them air dry for a couple of days until they turn black.

  5. Pack the walnuts into unglazed or stone jars, filling them about three-quarters full with the brine.

  6. After a week, check the jars and refill them with brine as needed to prevent spoilage.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Walnuts
Main ingredient that softens and darkens during brining and air drying, becoming the pickle.
Coarse sea salt
Salt in the brine that draws out moisture and seasons the walnuts during curing.

The step that matters

Refilling the jars with brine. Walnuts exposed above the brine can spoil. Checking after a week and topping up keeps every piece submerged, which helps prevent spoilage.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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