Peter Graham

Vin de feuilles de noyer

Preparation info

  • [To make

    8 x 750 ml

    bottles of apéritif]

    • Difficulty

      Easy

Appears in

Mourjou: The Life and Food of an Auvergne Village

Mourjou

By Peter Graham

Published 1999

  • About

This is a variant of the more usual vin de noix found all over south-west France, which is made from walnuts picked at the unripe stage when their shells are still soft. As you will know if you have crushed walnut leaves in your hand, they possess almost the same strongly aromatic fragrance as the unripe fruit.

Ingredients

  • 300 g (10½ oz) young walnut-tree leaves
  • 1.25 litres (44

Method

Immediately after picking the walnut-tree leaves, which should be as young as possible, chop them up coarsely and put them to macerate in the fruit spirit in a glass, china or enamel container which can be closed hermetically. Leave for 10 days in a cool place. Strain the liquid through a very fine sieve into a mixing bowl, add the sugar and wine, and stir well. Leave for an hour or two. Stir a