Still green black walnuts

This week my husband and son are making two different black walnut liqueurs: Nocino (An Italian spirit) and Vin de Noix (A French cordial). Steve has been waiting for the young, still green, walnuts of the black walnut tree to reach a specific size for harvesting and macerating. The nuts need to be formed inside the husks but still tender enough to slice through with a knife. In southern France, Jean-Luc always harvested his walnuts (English walnuts not our native black walnuts) on La fête de la Saint-Jean, the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, which is June 24. Here in our northern climate, the nuts have just reached the right maturity this first week of July. Now we macerate for a month, and then, as Jean-Luc’s wife Nicole has told us, “The older it is the better it tastes, so be patient!”

black walnut tree leaves and nuts (Juglans nigra)