The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Red Skin Walnut/ Red Danube Walnut

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

Red Skin Walnut/ Red Danube Walnut

Three large walnuts were just given to me.  They come from a tree just up the street.  My friend's dog had broken into one of the nuts so we opened it completely to reveal a most beautiful sight...  Taste is excellent!  The other two have been planted.   I photographed the remaining half nut meat and thought I'd share it will you all too.

I have never before seen one. 

An Internet search makes references to a California Plantation.  No mention in Wiki.  They must come from somewhere.....   Remember... I'm in Austria.   Would bread from this walnut be purple... or some other color?

Mini

A feast for the eyes!

 

AnnaInNC's picture
AnnaInNC

here is a TFL link    http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/2240/purple-walnut-bread-aargh

The flesh of these walnuts is beautiful.  I am from Germany and we had loads of walnuts but I don't remember seeing any quite this purple. 

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

The insides are creamy white.  I don't know if the skins will turn the crumb purple, normal brown walnuts skins turn the crumb purple.  I never noticed discoloration in rye because the crumb is dark. 

No one here has seen a red/purple skinned walnut before...  It is a great nut for discussions.

Mini

AnnaInNC's picture
AnnaInNC

with being a tree in Austria.  Wasn't that the favorite color of the House of Habsburg ?  (joke)   ;)

clazar123's picture
clazar123

I believe nut skins are used in dying cloth/yarn.

That is an absolutely beautiful walnut! I'd love to grow that here!

Here is a link for what may become a new,favorite site:

http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/w/walnut06.html

 

AnnaInNC's picture
AnnaInNC

Using beer instead of water and adding normal walnuts to add crunch, my bread turned out a beautiful purple and very tasty. Go figure :)

 

KenK's picture
KenK

The different colors on the skin are probably somehow analagous to the pigments in leaves.  The reds and yellows of fall color are there all summer but they only become visible when the green pigment fades in the fall.

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

I went looking in English and had no luck.  Found reference to walnut trees, "...some with red skins..." in a bee garden.  So off I went to check out a beeforum in German.  Those bee people know what's up!  There was a listing of walnut trees with discriptions which led me to walnut trees from seeds with photos.   English translation click Here.

The walnut is referred to as a Red Danube Nut also as Geisenheimer sort 1239.  Requires at least 70 square meters open land, or 83 square yards, roughly 9 yards square.  Hard to get into my garden.  Takes about 7 to 10 years before the first nuts.  

Mini

Here is another link to Almond Corner.    Oh ooooo

and Here!       I live about 7 miles from the Danube River!  No Habsburg blood here.

 

AnnaInNC's picture
AnnaInNC

I went to your link, had no idea there were so many species. The trees are just so beautiful when in bloom.

KenK's picture
KenK

An acquaintance incorporates a cross section of various kinds of nut shells into pine straw baskets.

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

as a banneton? 

Grafted walnut trees produce nuts within 2 to 4 years!  Because the tree has to go into survival mode it blooms sooner.   Cool, but the grafting technique is a tricky one and not done often and is in danger of getting "lost."    The foot high walnut I want to pull out will go into a pot for grafting.  I have to move it as it came up on it's own near my peony plants.  I stuck the two nuts near to where it's coming up to get the bennefit of the protective substances the walnut tree is producing.  I just have to keep an eye on things so my peonies don't suffer very long.  

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

I thought it was just another "ground holler" and so I janked on it.  Dirt stuck on it so I gave it a good shake.  Didn't come off and with a closer look... it was a walnut!  A nut with this cute little tree is about 10 inches tall!  No sign of the second nut.  But I'm so excited!  I just put it into a little pot and watered it and tucked it back into the shade.  I'm feeling so Red Walnut Wonderful!   I had planted the two nuts within a foot of a small walnut in hopes that any protective chemicals coming off the tree would help the nuts sprout.  Covered with lots of dead walnut leaves and humus too to protect it thru the winter.

(Time to bake those Linzer cookies while I'm feeling so country bonded!)

Mini O whatanut

008cats's picture
008cats

White walnuts, nothing exotic. When they fell to the ground, we'd put them on racks in the sun to dry a bit, with the thick green skins on (which we called "hulls"). Then, when the hulls split, we'd unpeel them - this stage left our fingers stained quite dark. Then the hulled walnuts (now showing their shells) would go back on the racks to dry out in the sun. This drying changes the colour and taste of the nut, which is quite bitter/sour/astringent before drying.

Once dry, they'd be ready for storage. My father used to spend hours cracking walnuts by hammer and wood block, meticulously removing shell bits. It was a labour of either love or obsession; either way they tasted fantastic and NOTHING like the ones sold to the packing house which are cleaned and processed mechanically for retail.

Oh  yes, and you have to devise a system to discourage birds who learn to pick the nuts out of the drying rack and fly up to drop them on your roof or driveway to crack them open.

BTW, I have a huge black walnut tree in my backyard, and I have no trouble getting perennials to grow underneath it, as long as (like many things) competition for water doesn't become an issue. I've been told that establishing under the drip line of the black walnut can be more difficult; I've  had it for 20 years and have not seen definitive evidence of this. They are a squirrel magnet, however!

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

folks here in Austria to appreciate them.  The better for me.  My stash lasts a long time.  

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

clinging for dear life on my knee high walnut tree!    The one I planted in the fall of 2011.

That is just so incredible!    ...I think I broke a walnut record.

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

This year my walnut tree surprised us with 150 nuts. Good sized ones too! The first respectable harvest. See? It pays to threaten and talk to trees. Let them know that if they don’t produce any decent nuts they will be turned into firewood.

The nuts are drying in the sun to help shrink the nutmeats from the shells. I opened several nuts but hard to get nutmeats out in one or two pieces as the shells were so full.

Tree is now about 4 meters tall and takes both hands to circle the trunk one meter off the ground.  

 

rondayvous's picture
rondayvous

This thread was/is a long time in the making. What are your plans for the nuts?

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

Eventually eat them but for now Nutty ideas dance in my head.  

I've eaten a few of the "green" rubbery nuts and they are good eating. Very bright red until the air dries the skin to burgundy color.  

rondayvous's picture
rondayvous

We eat about 60 or 70lbs of walnuts a year. Mostly in breads and as yogurt toppings. They are a lot of work straight from the tree, but well worth the effort. Burgundy sounds perfect!

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

then put them into my dehydrator to dry them a bit.  We eat a lot of walnuts too.  These are not a lot but they sure are pretty.  Most likely use them where they "show off" their color.  Cheese balls, on top of blue cheese or in salads. Maybe just to eat on cold buffet.  Or a half stuck in the butter.