Nuts

Walnut

Walnut, in nearly all modern kitchens and trade, means the brain-shaped kernel of Juglans regia—the Persian or English walnut—orchard-grown from Central Asia and the Mediterranean to California, China, Chile, and beyond. Fresh kernels taste sweet-bitter and rich, with a tannic pellicle that can edge toward astringency; stale ones taste like paint or varnish and cannot be rescued with sugar. The oil is highly polyunsaturated, which makes walnut brilliant for flavour and fragile in warm storage. Cooks use walnuts in baklava, brownies, salads, muhammara, pesto-style sauces, Chinese and Persian stews, and cold-pressed finishing oils. Crack cleanly, pick out shell grit, and freeze halves if you bake only occasionally. Light toasting softens raw tannin for salads; some pastry kitchens blanch to pale the pellicle. Compared with pecan, walnut is more tannic and less candied-sweet; compared with black walnut it is milder and less resinous. It is a major tree-nut allergen. Buy recent harvest stock in cool packs and taste a piece before committing a whole bag to cake or butter.