To Preserve Wallnuts

This recipe hails from late 17th-century England, attributed to Mary Cruso in 1689. Preserving green walnuts was a seasonal tradition, taking advantage of their short period of edibility before hard shells formed. Such preserves were enjoyed as luxurious sweetmeats, often accompanying cheese, game, or as delights at the end of elaborate feasts. Sugar was expensive but increasingly accessible in upper-middle-class English households, while spices like cinnamon and cloves signified hospitality and status. The meticulous method of soaking and blanching reflects both concerns for bitterness and the indulgence of time-rich foodways of the era.

The original recipe would have been made with simple household tools of the period: a sharp skewer or fine fork for pricking the walnuts, a large earthenware or wooden bowl for soaking, an iron or brass skillet or saucepan for blanching and boiling, and a linen or coarse cloth for peeling skins. For boiling syrup, cooks would have used a heavy-bottomed pan over an open hearth or kitchen range, adjusting heat with coals and judging readiness by eye and taste.