Homemade Nocino..an Italian liquor

Here I go again, trying to get in touch with my Italian heritage. In case you have never heard me mention Nocino let me explain what it is. 


Nocino dates back to the Middle Age, produced by the Celts and in monasteries used for medicinal purposes. Since 1978 Italy promoted the traditional Nocino of Modena, where is produced, tasted, and enjoyed during an annual festival. Nocino is an exquisite dark brown liqueur made from walnuts in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It is traditionally produced in the month of June when walnuts are unripe and green, these are steeped in a neutral spirit, resulting into an aromatic bittersweet nutty flavored liqueur.


OK so now you know a little bit about Nocino, my dilemma...I cannot find it anywhere here in the US. I did bring a bottle home from Italy when I went in 2011, but I didn't want to run out of it and so off on my quest I went and I found several recipes on how to make your own.
In Italy most Nocino is homemade so the recipes do vary, but I thought, I could do this why not try.

Sounds easy...not so much. The main ingredient is green unripened walnuts....I don't have a walnut tree and do not know of a single grocery store that carries them. Thank goodness for the Internet. I found a great website www.localharvest.org and put my name on a waiting list. 


The walnuts are harvested in late June or early July depending on the weather. I got the email and ordered my walnuts that day, so glad I did not hesitate because they sold out of the first harvest. 


My order came and I was so excited to try and make this.

One of the several recipes I have found says to use 95% proof grain alcohol.... One problem, I couldn't find anything higher than 80 proof and I was running out of time with the walnuts.....I can't win. I decided to use 80% proof grain vodka and adjust the recipe a little.


One of the first things I needed was gloves?!?!? Apparently green walnuts stain when you cut them, and you will not see the staining until after about an hour. Gloves...check...vodka...check...container to 
put everything in...check...

OK things are starting to look a little better...

Since I had to order 5lbs of the walnuts I knew I would be able to make several batches, so this was my chance to try a few different recipes and see what was the best. They all start off with the same basic principal, cut the walnuts in 1/4 then add the alcohol, according to most Italians you need to use an odd amount of walnuts, not really sure why, some recipes have you add all the ingredients at the beginning of the aging process and some add it half way through.

All cut and just waiting for the alcohol

Next it's a waiting game of sorts, the walnut mixture needs to age 40 days in a sunny spot and stirred once a day.

After about 6 hours in the sun, this batch I added some cloves and cinnamon stick

24 hours later

After the 40 days, depending on the recipe, you either need to add the remaining ingredients or if you have already added them it now needs to be in a cool dark place for 20 days. After all this is done, filter and then bottle and store in a cool dark place until ready to use.  It is said that the longer you wait the better the taste. Not sure how long I will be able to wait. I am hoping to have a sample by Christmas....or a few sips as I bottle it.



It's been about 3 weeks now and the liquid is so dark you can no longer see the walnuts...so excited!







I know this...In My Life I was taught that patience is a virtue, but waiting to see the outcome is hard.