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Fall Food: Black Walnuts
Dec. 3rd, 2011 04:49 pmIt is so still autumn. Unless you're south of the equator, in which case you're enjoying spring.
When I was a very small child-- we're talking 3-4 here-- I was obsessed with See's Candies for two reasons: Mint Krispys and bonbons. In the summer, they'd sell this pastel-colored mix of bonbons-- pink, orange, yellow, pale green. The pink was coconut, and that was my favorite. The orange was apricot and I thought it was nasty. The green was... interesting. I liked it, but not as much as coconut. I remembered it, though. Years later, decades later, I still had hazy memories of green-coated bonbons, even though the Summer Mix boxes didn't feature them any more.
See's Candies has a fairly long institutional memory, and as an adult I was able to confirm that the green bonbons really did exist, had been discontinued a long time ago, and that the haunting odd flavor was black walnut. Black Walnut is one of those "old tyme" flavors like molasses that, whatever its role in cuisine and culture, has pretty clearly fallen from favor and exists as a niche market. The nutmeats are hard to find, often quite expensive, and are just more assertive than English Walnuts. I bought a pack last year at the local bulk food shop, and they went rancid before I could do anything with them.
Well, I do keep trying. Bought another pack today and plan to make a cake with them. I also was lucky enough to find a bin of black walnut chips, which is great because now I don't have to mail order the darned things. Even in bulk they're $9.99 a pound (see above re: expensive niche market). The shop clerk and I bonded over a mutual love of black walnuts and things derived from them.
Now, if I could just find a local source for marron glace...
When I was a very small child-- we're talking 3-4 here-- I was obsessed with See's Candies for two reasons: Mint Krispys and bonbons. In the summer, they'd sell this pastel-colored mix of bonbons-- pink, orange, yellow, pale green. The pink was coconut, and that was my favorite. The orange was apricot and I thought it was nasty. The green was... interesting. I liked it, but not as much as coconut. I remembered it, though. Years later, decades later, I still had hazy memories of green-coated bonbons, even though the Summer Mix boxes didn't feature them any more.
See's Candies has a fairly long institutional memory, and as an adult I was able to confirm that the green bonbons really did exist, had been discontinued a long time ago, and that the haunting odd flavor was black walnut. Black Walnut is one of those "old tyme" flavors like molasses that, whatever its role in cuisine and culture, has pretty clearly fallen from favor and exists as a niche market. The nutmeats are hard to find, often quite expensive, and are just more assertive than English Walnuts. I bought a pack last year at the local bulk food shop, and they went rancid before I could do anything with them.
Well, I do keep trying. Bought another pack today and plan to make a cake with them. I also was lucky enough to find a bin of black walnut chips, which is great because now I don't have to mail order the darned things. Even in bulk they're $9.99 a pound (see above re: expensive niche market). The shop clerk and I bonded over a mutual love of black walnuts and things derived from them.
Now, if I could just find a local source for marron glace...
