Walnut Oil

Walnut oil is pressed from walnuts (Juglans regia). 'Roasted' walnut oil is made from gently roasted nuts for a deeper, toasty flavor; the oil is prized as a finishing and salad oil rather than a high-heat cooking fat.

Like other delicate nut and seed oils, it is sensitive to light and heat and goes rancid if mishandled; tin or dark glass packaging and cool, dark storage matter. It is also a tree-nut oil.

It is used mostly in the kitchen (drizzled, in dressings, over baked goods) and, by some, on skin and hair. Keep heat low to preserve flavor and nutrition.

This is a finishing oil in the French tradition, where a thread of it over bitter greens, roasted beets, or a warm lentil salad is a quiet signature. Its toasted-nut depth fades quickly with heat, so it stays away from the pan and arrives at the table instead. Like flax, it is light- and heat-sensitive (refrigerate after opening) and as a true tree-nut oil it carries the allergen consideration of the walnut itself.