My town have a plantation of Juglans nigra. These nut trees don’t grow usually in France yet when I decided to have a taste of them, I thought I would handle it like another nut. But they are different.

I try to have the green shell to dry completely before peeling them off. But I couldn’t so I went with a knive to get ride of it before they turn bad. The nuts are smaller than the one that grows here but so hard I can’t crack them with a nutcraker.

Should I have wait longer before picking them up ? What is right to great ride of the green skin ? How could I crack them ?

  • LibertyLizard
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    8 months ago

    Only thing that worked for me was hammer on concrete or some other surface you don’t mind being damaged. And then learn to use the exact right amount of force. If you overdo it and smash the meat it’s tough to remove the shell shards. It’s very labor intensive.

    Personally I don’t like the taste so I never really perfected my technique, but that got the job done. Taste and see what you think but in my opinion they are only suitable for baking, not for eating fresh as with other walnuts. The flavor is very strong.