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Walnuts, Pickled

A method of preserving walnuts by soaking in brine, sun-drying, and sealing with a spiced vinegar solution.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Allspice and ginger match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,620 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Walnuts, Pickled

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the walnuts

  1. Prick the walnuts with a fork.

  2. Prepare a strong brine with 4 lbs of salt in 1 gallon of water.

  3. Soak the walnuts in the brine for 9 days, changing the brine every third day.

  4. Drain the walnuts and place them in the sun for 2 to 3 days until they turn black.

Pickle and store

  1. Pack the walnuts into dry jars without filling them completely.

  2. Boil the vinegar with the spices for 10 minutes and pour it hot over the walnuts, ensuring they are fully covered.

  3. Seal the jars and store them in a dry place.

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

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Allspice + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,620 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Pepper + allspicetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,395 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Walnut + allspicetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together553 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Pepper + gingertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,800 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Walnut + gingertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together737 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Young walnuts
Provide the green fruit that softens in brine and darkens to a black, mellow pickle.
Coarse sea salt
Draws water out of the walnuts and preserves them during the long brine soak.
Vinegar
Acidifies the pickle, preserving it and giving it a sharp, tangy flavour.
Whole black pepper
Adds pungent, spiced aroma to the infused vinegar.
Allspice
Adds warm, clove-like aroma that flavours the vinegar.
Bruised ginger
Adds warm, aromatic pungency to the pickling liquid.

The step that matters

Soaking in the brine until the walnuts turn black. Salt draws moisture out and the walnuts must be fully penetrated and well drained before the sun step; changing the brine keeps it strong so the walnuts cure evenly rather than spoiling.

Swap the walnut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, pepper, allspice, ginger):

  1. Sesamefits about as well
  2. Walnutthe original
  3. Chickpeafits about as well
  4. Beansfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, pepper, allspice, ginger. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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