Walnuts

In Gascony, France, on June 24, they take the young walnut shoots and put them into eau-de-vie, to make a delicious liquor. Maybe it is because June 24 is my birthday that I feel such an affinity to walnuts. Looking like wizened little creatures, with a resemblance to the human brain, they have always been among my favorite things. I love their delicious sweetness and texture.

I remember as a child feeling incredibly frustrated that I couldn’t crack two walnuts together in my hands like my father could. And even when I used the rather strange nutcracker in the shape of a ship’s wheel that we had at home, I still seemed to be unable to get the walnut meat out of the shell.