noix

Walnuts grow well, especially in the Dordogne valley where the round Noix de Périgord is designated AOP. Many go into huile de noix, walnut oil, which is lovely on salads with a bit of lemon juice. Cerneaux de noix are the kernels.

Traditionally nothing goes to waste with a walnut tree: the green nuts are made into eau de noix liqueur, an esssential ingredient of a fénelon and into brou de noix, for staining your beams black. Dried walnuts go into a thousand sweet and savoury recipes, while the shells can be ground up for kitty litter. The wood goes into furniture or shutters or into the wood stove.

Noix can also mean the meat of a scallop, as in the noix de saint jacques ornoix de pétoncle or the centre boneless meat of a leg of lamb, noix de gigot d’agneau or of veal.