Nocino
Nocino is a walnut liqueur, with the Ordine del Nocino Modenese’s recipe using locally gathered walnuts, alcohol and sugar.
- Main ingredient
- Walnuts
- Optional spices in the recipe
- Cloves and cinnamon
Time in the Modenese recipe
The Ordine’s recipe quarters the walnuts and combines them with sugar before adding alcohol. It calls for filtration no earlier than 60 days and at least 12 months of cool storage before appreciating the finished liqueur. Those timings belong to this recipe.
A walnut note at the end of the meal
For a small Christmas tasting, consider nocino beside a plain biscuit or a piece of dark chocolate. These are serving ideas to try with the bottle you have chosen, rather than rules that every producer follows. Offer a little separately from the sweet so guests can decide whether they enjoy the combination; the liqueur does not need to be poured over the dessert.
If a baking recipe calls for nocino, keep its quantity with that recipe. A walnut liqueur and a handful of chopped walnuts do different jobs in a mixture. Do not treat one as a direct replacement for the other simply because both bring a walnut connection. Keep an alcoholic dessert clearly identified when you serve it.
At Christmas
Choose a particular nocino for the Christmas drinks selection and read its producer details before serving. The walnut liqueur described here has its own recipe and optional spice choices. A bottle already made and a home infusion are separate preparations; keep any plan for making the liqueur distinct from the drink you need for the holiday meal.
Explore at Christmas
Choose a finished bottle for a December gift
The Modenese method above is a long preparation. Its walnuts are gathered around the traditional feast of St John the Baptist in June, and its infusion and resting stages extend well beyond the day of mixing. If your aim is a gift for this Christmas, choosing a finished bottle is a different project from starting a batch at home in December.
Ask for the producer and expression by name, then read that bottle's ingredients and directions. The optional cloves and cinnamon in the Ordine's recipe do not prove that another nocino contains either spice. For a gift note, distinguish the walnut liqueur itself from the particular Modenese recipe explored here, and leave preparation claims tied to the maker who actually supplies the bottle.
