noce

walnut
The fruit of a deciduous tree (also called noce), consisting of an external hull (mallo) surrounding a hard shell (guscio), which contains the edible seed (gheriglio).

My aunt Lucia used chopped walnuts (noci) and egg whites (chiare d'uovo) to make croccanti for Christmas, then delivered small packages of them to family members. My father remembers cracking the walnuts his sister would use. At my parents' house, a tray of walnuts and hazelnuts (nocciole) was always on the kitchen counter and as a child I loved using the schiaccianoci (nutcracker) to extract the gherigli from their shell.

A bottle of home-made nocino could always be found in the glass cabinet in my aunt's kitchen. Nocino is a dark brown liqueur, whose recipe includes whole walnuts still with their green hull, cinnamon, cloves and lemon peel infused in alcohol. My aunt prescribed a small quantity of it to aid digestion and to cure a number of ailments. 

The cutest Italian expression involving walnuts is un guscio di noce (a walnut shell), used to describe a tiny boat.

We also use noce in the name of fruits that are shaped like a whole walnuts, e.g., noce moscata (nutmeg) and noce di cocco (coconut). When a recipe calls for a small piece of butter it may say una noce di burro.

Hear me pronounce the words and expressions on the noce audio file [mp3] or go to the noce audio page for more listening options.

Comments

[Lisa]

How interesting, the names of coconut and nutmeg referring to the walnut. And the "noce di burro." Cute! I love the "little boat" expression as well.

[Maryann]

Wonderful post. I would love to try nocino.

[Katiez]

We just cut down the weeds beneath our walnut tree today... getting ready for the harvest!
I always keep a bowl and nutcracker on the kitchen counter for snacks, too!

[Simona]

Hi Lisa. I just remembered that as a kid we actually used to let half walnut shells float on water as little boats.

Hi Maryann: It may be possible to buy some in the US.

Hi Katie: how wonderful that you have a walnut tree ready for harvest! I hope it has lots of walnuts on its branches.

[Paz]

How interesting about the nocino.

Paz

[Lori Lynn at Taste With The Eyes]

Simona - I really enjoy my Italian lessons with you. I just posted a dish with mussels and angel hair pasta, and I thought of you...a post on angels and angel hair?

[Simona]

Hi Paz. I wish I could find my aunt's recipe for nocino to share on the blog.

Hi Lori Lynn. I am glad you enjoy the little Italian lessons on my blog. Thanks for the suggestion: I will certainly write about angel hair pasta in the near future.