The find of the century! Yesterday morning I decanted the walnuts which had soaked in a brine solution for over a week. I rinsed the walnuts then spread these on paper to air dry.  Even wet they tasted super sweet from the combination of the infused salt and the natural sweetness of the nutty fruit. I wanted to devour them all.  All at once. Now. Nevertheless I restrained myself and left them to dry.

I wondered whether salt crystals would form or whether there might be any other evidence these walnuts had been sitting in brine.

The nuts are now dry and they look as if they have popped straight from their wooden shells.  There is no salt to be seen anywhere anyhow. To eat they are no harder or softer than when first shelled.  But the flavour has been seriously enhanced.  Seriously.

A friend arrived during the drying process and tasted them. She loved them. When she told me her husband had a history of pickling green walnuts in the past, naturally  I gave her some of these salted walnuts for him to try.

If a commercial producer was to offer salted walnuts I know the nuts would have been dusted/stirred within a quantity of salt and at the bottom of any packet would be a residue of salt. Not so with this method.

Next season if friend F gives me a large bag load again, I will be mass-producing salted walnuts. The sample few made this time will be eaten in a flash. I know I won’t be able to spread them out to last over winter.