Walnut for every reason, every season

It looks like a brain and hence is the most preferred food item given to children – to sharpen their intelligence! Walnuts are a high density source of nutrients, particularly proteins and essential fatty acids – when consumed in whole form, including the skin.

Known for its property to reduce cardiovascular diseases, walnuts are consumed in large quantities across the globe. Walnut dishes commonly include cakes, breads, cookies, salads and pies. Some popular walnut recipes are chocolate walnut brownies, walnut salad, walnut fudge and banana walnut cake. It is also widely added to baked items like cookies and biscuits. Walnuts are also commonly used for garnishing dishes.

Walnuts are usually added directly to recipes depending upon the dish – chopped, minced or powdered. In powdered form they are used to coat meat pieces before frying and as stuffing in pies and dessert. Walnut oil is also used in salads. 

Chef Abhinav Sharma, Amsterdam Kitchen and Bar, says, “We use walnut in Walnut crested French brie. We coat the cheese with walnut crumb and fry it. The other item that we have is the Walnut Salad.”

It is always advised to purchase walnut with shells since they can be preserved for a longer time, however there is a risk of choosing the wrong ones since the inside part cannot be seen. To avoid this, it is prudent to consider the shell quality. A brittle and easy to crack shell is an indication of a fresh walnut.

Executive Chef Viswajit Saha of Le’ Shamrock too talks about his favourite walnut dishes, “We have walnut-based brownies which we serve with hot chocolate sauce or ice cream. Then we have the mayonnaise-based salad with seasonal fruits, pomegranate, potatoes, apple, cottage cheese and dates. We also use walnut paste in Indian dishes to make the gravy a bit dry and give it a nutty, crunchy taste.”

Walnuts are high in fat content due to which they are prone to rancidity. It is always better to use walnuts as soon as possible since they develop a very sour taste due to spoilage. Freezing the nuts is a good way of storing them for long.

Walnut is grown worldwide and thus is easily available everywhere. Due to this, most cuisines incorporate walnut in their dishes. Be it in salads, as a garnish for desserts or a vital ingredient in sweets, walnuts make it to the ingredient list of every known cuisine.