Nocino: Night and Day

I am happy to see that my six years of hard science classes, including a year of inorganic chemistry and a year of organic chemistry can be employed practically. A friend asked my if I had bottled my Nocino and I thought- well no not yet. 1) I have the date to bottle on the calendar and no reminders have popped up and 2) last time I shook my bottle, it was still translucent. I mentioned this and got a blank look back. It has been a month! Obviously something was not right. After an initial moment of panic

on the 34th Day / an dem 34. Tag

 

 the state of the walnuts / Zustand der Walnüssen

About waiting and dwelling upon / Das Warten und das Verweilen

If Patience means the virtue of waiting in a relaxed state within any or a given time, then it refers to the manner in which we handle that time frame, but not to the quality, meaning and attitude invested in the particular moment. Patience means having waiting time at hand and waiting signifies a manner of being in the very present, however, while being influenced by the future we are patiently waiting for. Hence the moment may remain a future-awaiting moment, as well as a future-burdened moment. As a result patience may not at all be a conscious dwelling upon Now.

With patience one may also postpone a presence, but in dwelling there is Being – as long as the dwelling is done in a state of awareness.

In my suitcases and travel belongings I have currently a Basil plant (ocimum basilicum) and two large jars containing steeped green walnuts. If I place these on any given Windowsill I ask myself

Signatures of Nature / Signaturen in der Natur

In “Adam in Eden or the Paradise of Plants” (1657) the British Physician William Cole (1626 – 1662) wrote about what he viewed as the relationship between different life forms based on their shapes and colours, both refered to as signatures. If one reads the signatures of plants carefully, these signalise clearly how they are to be used. The ”Doctrine of Signatures” was understood as a very active school of thought around the 17th Century, started not by, nor for Scientists in the field of Medicine, but amongst thinkers in the realm of spiritual philosophy. Its core is based on the idea, that god marked everything he created with a sign and whenever these signs correlate in their shape or colour, there is a reason

Ratafía

Here is yet another version of the Celtics idea to make wine out of green Walnuts.

The Spanish version has tradition in Catalonia and it is called Ratafia. In this case the Walnuts are mixed with aromatic herbs. It is no wonder that ritual customs play also here an important role. For the time of 40 days and 40 nights the Walnuts are immersed in an Anise Liqueur. There is even a fair dedicated to Ratafia in Besalú during the month of December. This small city is in Northern Spain in

Nocino

Nocino originated in Sassuolo, near Modena. According to tradition, the Walnuts for Nocino ought to be picked on June 24^th. It is no wonder, that for this composition Grappa is used, instead of the usual Wodka and others in France. In order to assure the fermentation, it is recommended to place the bottles on the window silk, where the sun rays contribute to more warmth.

After a period of 40 days the juice gets pressed out of the walnuts. To this liquid various aromas like Vanilla, Nutmeg, Cloves and Cinnamon may be added. After an additional 2 months

Here is to the joy of wating… / über die Freude des Wartens

here is to the joy of combining different ingredients, either in tradition or with personal alchemy… putting it in a bottle… and waiting…

Welcome to a small world of wine making  – call it green walnut wine, or green walnut aperitif – it is a lively motivation in itself. Not knowing what it will turn out to be, not knowing it will taste good, not knowing if the complete effort of a few months will be gone within a few hours of joy.

All over the world many individuals have just started the waiting