Noix du Périgord

Appearance & taste

Fresh nuts are sold in the shell shortly after the harvest; their kernel is firm and easy to peel. Dried nuts only need to be cracked before eating, and their bitter taste has already faded. The kernels are light, no darker than light brown or lemon-coloured; for the somewhat darker kernels, only halves are used.

Each variety has its own character. Marbot kernels have little bite, a sweetish note at first and a slightly bitter one at the end, and quite a pronounced nutty flavour. Franquette kernels are pale yellow, smell sweetish and have a rather oily consistency. Corne kernels are also pale yellow, fruity and pleasant to bite. Grandjean is easy to shell and contains little oil, with a balanced ratio of sweetness to bitterness. Fernor has a pronounced nutty flavour but is milder and slightly sweetish.

The front of the packaging bears the name “Noix du Périgord” in letters at least as large as the largest letters, and for dried nuts and kernels also the harvest year.

Production

The walnut trees stand on sites that the producers choose by soil, depth, terrain and aspect; they adapt training, planting density, intercrops and irrigation to the variety. Harvesting is done by machine by shaking the trees, so that the nuts do not lie on the ground for long and shell and kernel keep their colour. Treatment with hypochlorite solution, which used to be meant to improve the appearance of gathered nuts, is prohibited.

Fresh nuts are stored in a cold store at 1 to 5 °C; after 15 October of the harvest year they may no longer be shipped or processed into dried nuts. Dried nuts dry in wooden crates in the air or with warm forced air below 30 °C; they keep until 31 December of the year after the harvest. From 1 March, fixed storage conditions apply to dried nuts and kernels so that they do not go rancid.

Production, shelling and packing take place in the area. Traditionally the nuts are sold separated by variety; dried nuts may only be mixed as Corne with Marbot or Franquette with Fernor; batches with too many other varieties lose the designation of origin.

Origin & history

The area lies between the foothills of the Massif Central and the plains of the Aquitaine Basin, on a plateau crossed by many watercourses. The soils of Jurassic and Cretaceous limestone are rich in clay and well drained, the Massif Central protects against cold north-easterly winds and spring frost, and stormy summers cover the trees’ high water needs from mid-July to mid-August.

Corne, Marbot and Grandjean are the old local varieties. Franquette came from the Isère department in the 1950s, and Fernor, a cross between Franquette and Lara, has been grown since 1995. According to the specification, the Périgord became famous for its nuts over the centuries; in 1959 Louis Garavel wrote in “La culture du noyer” that they had long enjoyed an excellent reputation in France and abroad.