Pickled Walnuts in the English style

FROM Good Things, by Jane Grigson, based on Mrs Beeton’s instructions.

100 walnuts Salt and water

To each quart of vinegar:

2oz whole black peppercorns

1oz all-spice 1oz bruised ginger

“Procure the walnuts while young” — from the beginning to the middle of July, before they harden — “Be careful they are not woody, and prick them well with a fork; prepare a strong brine of salt and water (4lb salt to each gallon of water), into which put the walnuts, letting them remain 9 days, and changing the brine every third day; drain them off, put them on a dish, place it in the sun until they become perfectly black, which will be in 2 or 3 days; have ready dry jars, into which to place the walnuts, and do not quite fill the jars. Boil sufficient vinegar to cover them for 10 minutes, with spices in the above proportion, and pour it hot over the walnuts, which must be quite covered with the pickle; tie down with bladder” — use small bottling jars, which fasten tight with a rubber ring — “and keep in a dry place.* They will be fit for use in a month, and will keep good 2 or 3 years.”

Note: For best results, use sea salt and wine vinegar. You could also insert an onion, stuck with cloves, in the middle of the nuts. Eat with cheese and salads.

* Cooks now use preserving jars with lids.