Skip to main content
Dessert

Walnuts, Pickled

Pickled walnuts preserved in vinegar with spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Allspice and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Walnuts, Pickled

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare and steep

  1. Wipe and prick the walnuts.

  2. Place them in wide-necked bottles or unglazed jars and cover with cold vinegar.

  3. Cover closely and let stand in a cool, dry place for about 4 months.

  4. Drain off the vinegar.

Pickle and store

  1. Boil enough fresh vinegar to cover the walnuts with the seasonings.

  2. Pour the boiling hot vinegar over the walnuts.

  3. Cover closely and store for about 3 weeks in a cool, 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 + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Walnut + clovetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,592 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

Green walnuts
Provide the main flavour and firm texture that softens and darkens during pickling.
Vinegar
Acts as the preserving liquid, drawing out the walnut flavour and keeping the pickle sharp.
Coarse sea salt
Seasons the walnuts and helps draw out moisture during the long initial steep.
Allspice
Adds warm, aromatic spice flavour to the pickling liquor.
Ginger
Adds aromatic warmth that balances the sharpness of the vinegar.

The step that matters

Pricking and covering the walnuts in cold vinegar. Pricking lets the vinegar penetrate the thick green hull and flesh, and the walnuts must stay fully covered so no part spoils or dries. Covering closely keeps out air and contamination during the long steep.

Swap the walnut

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, allspice, clove, 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.

You might also like

Ginger CookiesGinger Cookies213 recipesGinger CakeGinger Cake93 recipesSoft Ginger BreadSoft Ginger Bread85 recipesSoft Ginger CakeSoft Ginger Cake56 recipes