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DEL.ICIO.USBlack walnuts: Taste treat or just a big pain?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Many Southerners have childhood memories of shelling grocery sacks full of pecans for the family pecan pie or other holiday treat. But pecans are softies compared to the legendarily tough black walnut. First, there’s the outer hull, which some people break by running over with a truck or car. Then there’s the shell itself, which seemingly only succumbs to a blow from a hammer. Extracting the meat is so labor intensive that Mike Fredenburg of Ball Ground sells it for $10 a cup on craigslist. (Click here for the story.) The flavor tends to be an acquired taste and the nuts are generally used as an ingredient (think black walnut ice cream) rather than eaten by themselves. Do you have any favorite dishes that use black walnuts? Know of anyone who goes through the painstaking process of shelling them? We’d like to hear from you.
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Comments
By dugfowlr
December 14, 2007 8:21 AM | Link to this
Black walnuts are also wonderful as part of a pound cake. My mother also used to make some kind of sticky candy with them. I think they are sort of an acquired taste like turnip greens.
By Chipmunk
December 14, 2007 8:56 AM | Link to this
That hull will stain your fingers dark brown - and it won’t come off! But they are good. Put some in a small mason jar and add maple syrup. Let it sit for a day or two then put on top of an ice cream sundae with some of the syrup. Delish!
By Brenda
December 14, 2007 10:31 AM | Link to this
Please to not question black walnuts. I use an herb called black walnut hull for the terrible indigestion I have suffered most of my life. I am very happy to report that for the first time in 25 years I can breathe. The gas in my chest that kept me from taking a deep breath is particularly gone. So event is black walnuts are difficult to open, open them and reap the rewards; for they are more than you know.
By phootflash
December 14, 2007 11:02 AM | Link to this
Black walnuts are without a doubt the best nut for banana nut bread.
By cselcis
December 19, 2007 1:19 PM | Link to this
I used to shell black walnuts in the late summer/fall in middle school. I used the walnuts in a cookie recipe that I entered at the 4H Fair and a blue ribbon for it.
The cookies were good but I’m not sure I would take the time and effort to shell them again. It took forever!
By cselcis
December 19, 2007 1:20 PM | Link to this
I used to shell black walnuts in the late summer/fall in middle school. I used the walnuts in a cookie recipe that I entered at the 4H Fair and a blue ribbon for it.
The cookies were good but I’m not sure I would take the time and effort to shell them again. It took forever!