To Pickel 38 Wallnuts

This recipe hails from the kitchen of Constance Hall, recorded in 1672, a time when preserving was both necessity and art. The English gentry and their households prized pickled green walnuts as a savory and piquant accompaniment to rich meats and cheeses, especially in winter months when fresh produce was scarce. 'V.a.20' refers to a manuscript collection of recipes and remedies kept by households like Hall’s, revealing not just culinary preferences but the resourcefulness and interconnectedness of early modern English domestic life.

In Hall's 17th-century kitchen, cooks would use earthenware bowls or wooden tubs for soaking the walnuts, a sharp steel pin or embroidery needle to prick them, and a brass or copper pan to bring the vinegar brine to a boil. Preservation jars or stoneware pots (sealed with cloth and wax or tightly fitted lids) would protect the pickled nuts from spoilage. A simple skimmer was used to remove froth ('foth'), and measuring was done by practical tests, like floating an egg to check brine salinity—a time-tested household trick.