I go not for a shady spot to finish a hat or a pair of gloves but in search of walnuts the size of golf balls, too early for the shell to have formed. If the knitting needle passes through the flesh and out the other side, I’m not too late.
I am following, two weeks later and with less elegance, in the footsteps of the ladies of Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, where, in late June, these ‘green’ walnuts are infused in the local spirit alcohol to produce a wonderful aperitif known as Nocino. There are contests, usually for women only, to establish the finest, so seriously is this homemade beverage taken. One of the pleasures of growing your own walnuts is being part of this noble tradition. Green walnuts can be pickled— they are delicious in this way— but most of those I pick are infused in vodka in my take on the classic, known, of course, as DiacoNocino.
It is as simple as it is superb: quarter 29 or 31 green walnuts (an odd number is traditional), infuse in a liter of vodka into which 400g sugar has been stirred. Flavorings —such as vanilla pod, cloves, lemon zest, and a stick of cinnamon—are occasional options. I turn it daily (when I remember) for a couple of months, then strain it into a bottle. The dark, syrupy, bittersweet liqueur is superb stone-cold or drizzled over ice cream.
Denne historien er fra September 01, 2021-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra September 01, 2021-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Save our family farms
IT Tremains to be seen whether the Government will listen to the more than 20,000 farming people who thronged Whitehall in central London on November 19 to protest against changes to inheritance tax that could destroy countless family farms, but the impact of the good-hearted, sombre crowds was immediate and positive.
A very good dog
THE Spanish Pointer (1766–68) by Stubbs, a landmark painting in that it is the artist’s first depiction of a dog, has only been exhibited once in the 250 years since it was painted.
The great astral sneeze
Aurora Borealis, linked to celestial reindeer, firefoxes and assassinations, is one of Nature's most mesmerising, if fickle displays and has made headlines this year. Harry Pearson finds out why
'What a good boy am I'
We think of them as the stuff of childhood, but nursery rhymes such as Little Jack Horner tell tales of decidedly adult carryings-on, discovers Ian Morton
Forever a chorister
The music-and way of living-of the cabaret performer Kit Hesketh-Harvey was rooted in his upbringing as a cathedral chorister, as his sister, Sarah Sands, discovered after his death
Best of British
In this collection of short (5,000-6,000-word) pen portraits, writes the author, 'I wanted to present a number of \"Great British Commanders\" as individuals; not because I am a devotee of the \"great man, or woman, school of history\", but simply because the task is interesting.' It is, and so are Michael Clarke's choices.
Old habits die hard
Once an antique dealer, always an antique dealer, even well into retirement age, as a crop of interesting sales past and future proves
It takes the biscuit
Biscuit tins, with their whimsical shapes and delightful motifs, spark nostalgic memories of grandmother's sweet tea, but they are a remarkably recent invention. Matthew Dennison pays tribute to the ingenious Victorians who devised them
It's always darkest before the dawn
After witnessing a particularly lacklustre and insipid dawn on a leaden November day, John Lewis-Stempel takes solace in the fleeting appearance of a rare black fox and a kestrel in hot pursuit of a pipistrelle bat
Tarrying in the mulberry shade
On a visit to the Gainsborough Museum in Sudbury, Suffolk, in August, I lost my husband for half an hour and began to get nervous. Fortunately, an attendant had spotted him vanishing under the cloak of the old mulberry tree in the garden.
