A glorious suunny day as we set off from Javea in our minibus last Saturday, making our way towards Viver, a small town in the Castellón province of Valencia. On arrival at the Cooperative de Viver we were greeted by Teresa and her colleague Cassi, and after their introductory welcome, we proceeded to the orchards where the biological and agricultural requirements of walnut cultivation were explained.
We learned that walnut trees require deep, well-drained soil and a specific “chill hour” period during winter to ensure a productive bloom. The harvest typically occurs in September–October when the tree trunks are shaken causing the ripe walnuts to fall to the ground for collection.
We then proceeded to the factory where the walnuts undergo a rigorous cleaning and sorting sequence:
De-hulling: The green outer husks are removed to reveal the hard shell.
Washing & Drying: The nuts are washed to remove debris and then dried in large bins to reduce moisture content, which prevents spoilage and ensures a long shelf life.
Sorting: We viewed the final stage where walnuts are sorted by size and quality before packaging.
A browse in the shop followed, with many purchases of bags of walnuts, bottles of olive oil, violet jelly, marmalade, jars of walnuts in honey, and wine!
It was then time to have a guided tasting, first of the olive oil, followed by a very nice white and red wine produced from the Cooperativa’s vineyards, which accompanied the Artisanal Brunch consisting of fresh bread, tomatoes, assorted cured meats, cheese and, of course, walnuts!
Angela thanked Teresa and Cassi for a very enjoyable and informative visit. And also a big thank you to our photographers: Ian Cummings, Cheryl Elliott, Ross Ord, Tom Miller, Angela Chantry.
Report by the group leader, Angela Chantry
spanish.culture.cuisine@u3ajavea.com