candied green walnuts

There is a wonderful tradition in the Middle East of keeping bowls of sweets to offer guests as soon as coffee or tea is served. They range from simple crunchy sugared almonds to such chewy confections as Syrian malban (the Arab equivalent of Turkish delight, studded with nuts), made with grape juice. Candied fruit is also kept on the coffee table, but in separate bowls and under a lid to keep them from drying out. The Syrian ones are the best—a specialty of Damascus—and the selection includes the whole range of fruit as well as such delicacies as green walnuts and baby eggplant. Each candied fruit, nut, or vegetable is nestled into its own little paper cup and, depending on how elegant the maker, they are arranged in beautiful boxes or simply slipped into plastic. I always bought more candied walnuts than anything else because I like the firm skin and the soft crunch of the tender shell. I give a recipe for making these even though they are not so easily done at home. For centuries, Middle Eastern home cooks and sweets makers alike treat the green nuts with calcium hydroxide, also known as slaked lime, “Cal,” pickling lime, or lime paste. In Arabic it is known as kilss, meaning “chalk,” and it is used as a firming agent by diluting it in water and letting the fruit or vegetables soak in it overnight.

SERVES 6 TO 8

¹/₄ cup [40 g] slaked lime

2 lb [910 g] green walnuts, picked when still quite young

5 cups [1 kg] organic cane sugar

Dissolve the slaked lime in 2 qt [2 L] water. Peel the walnuts with a vegetable peeler, removing only a thin coat of skin, and put the nuts to soak in the lime water for 24 hours.

Heat a saucepan of water to the boiling point. Rinse the walnuts and blanch them in the boiling water for just a minute or two. Drain and set aside.

Put the sugar in a saucepan. Add 1 cup [240 ml] water and place over medium heat. Bring to a boil and let the syrup simmer for a few minutes. Then drop in the walnuts and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes. You can leave them in the syrup as the Turks and Greeks do, or you can take them out to drain on a wire rack placed over a baking sheet for 1 hour or so. Store in individual paper cups in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 weeks.