Black walnuts grow all over the place in the parks and residential neighborhoods of DC. They have distinctive leaves and very distinctive green fruits:
If left on the tree, each green globe will turn into a woody, gnarled black walnut surrounded by a mottled green and brown leathery husk that can be peeled away with a little effort. 
But right now they’re still in the green stage, where the whole fruit is one cohesive whole. Slice one of these in half, and it’s just a lot of pith surrounding the beginnings of the edible nut (see right).
This is the stage where, theoretically, one can make the Italian liqueur known as nocino. I’ve never personally tasted it, but the description on food blogs sounded intriguing. So when I saw some low-hanging green (black) walnuts on a recent walk in a local park, I picked eight of them and started a batch of nocino. I used the proportions in this recipe, more or less. I only had 80-proof vodka instead of the recommended 100-proof (some recipes even suggest using grain alcohol), so my liqueur will be less alcoholic than I guess nocino is supposed to be.
But it’ll be fun to see what the flavor turns out to be. The green walnuts themselves had a heady, almost minty smell, so I think the liqueur could be very tasty. The chemicals in the walnuts will also eventually turn the whole brew a rich brown color – dark enough to stain anything it touches, apparently. But for now the mixture is clear and beautiful. I’ll report on the finished results in a month or two!
Nice photos!
Okay, I’m totally impressed with your urban foraging skills, and I’m quite curious to see what it actually tastes like. Looking forward to the update.
Haha, well so far the mixture has turned kind of a ghoulish green-black. I guess that’s the difference between regular walnuts and black walnuts. But at least it smells nice!
Very interesting, Amelia! I hope it turns out OK and I await the results!
[...] Amelia over at Gradually Greener is making nocino, an Italian liqueur, from foraged black walnuts. Okay, so I don’t think I have the gumption to try this, but it makes me want to do a tamer version of flavored liqueur. Like strawberry. Or blackberry. Or vanilla. Man. I am such a girl. [...]
Looks interesting. I wonder what it tastes like. I remember when my sister was little, she and a friend made a black walnut “stew” in the backyard. They got it all over their hands and it dyed their hands dark brown! They tried everything from nail polish remover to hair dye remover and nothing would take it off! They had to wait until their skin exfoliated naturally before it was back to its normal color. Careful with this stuff!
I’d love to hear how this came out for you. I just put up a batch myself (also made with black walnuts). Maybe it was the jar I’m using, but I only used about 14 walnuts and 3/4 of a liter of vodka. Today is day one, so we’ll see in a month!
Yes! I will post about it soon, since it’s been almost a month. The color got very dark, but it’s more gray-green than brown. I’m hoping that it will eventually oxidize to brown so that it doesn’t resemble bile.
[...] 17, 2009 by Amelia It’s been more than a month since I started a batch of nocino, a liqueur infusion made with green walnuts and bit of spice. I used foraged unripe black walnuts [...]