About Us
Since 2012
We Believe in Quality
Hand Made With Natural Ingredients
Noci’s Manifesto
Noci Bella is made by skilled hands and is skillfully hand-wrapped to gift quality. There’s no other way to do it. From start to finish, it is a hand-crafted quality gift. We honor people who have dedicated themselves to craftsmanship, and through their skilled hands, create quality products of utility and beauty. We also honor those who respect the planet and produce goods in a way that best represents that. Our goal is to produce a one of a kind product in a way that provides value in all directions. Simple is our value. Noci Bella ~ A taste of California
Serving Suggestions
Beyond the countless pairings of Noci Bella with wine & cheeses, I like to remind people that a slice of Noci Bella is the perfect way to finish a meal with a little coffee, tea, or dry sherry. I also have friends who like to take it hiking and backpacking. Walnuts are known for their satiety effect.
Original Noci Bella can be sliced and toasted. This will cause caramelization and after the slice has cooled you can experience a crisp Noci slice, which is nothing short of sensational. Place a .25″ thick slice in an oven or toaster oven at around 300 degrees for 12 minutes. Totally Worth the effort!
Alternatively, you can eat the slice before it has cooled with a little ice cream or other frozen desert on it.
If you’re a fan of frozen confections like I am, you’ll find our chocolate dipped Noci Bella unsurpassed in the crunch it delivers. I suggest slicing the chocolate dipped bar into 1“ chunks before freezing in a freezer bag. You will not find a more sensational confectionary experience than when you crunch down on one of those guys.
Walnuts and honey have been paired for centuries. We use California walnuts and with the purest honey we can find to make our terrazzo. It slices well and is often placed on cheese boards.
Our first distributor was and continues to be Cowgirl Creamery. Noci Bella has always paired well with their Mt. Tam and Redhawk. Noci Bella is delicious with many cheeses.
Although I’m not a wine drinker myself, we sell to a number of wineries and we’ve participated in wine shows. All I can tell you is that people love it and some wineries feature our product solely as a pairing item for their wines. I know the chocolate dipped is preferred with the red wines and the pinots in particular.
Gifting
Noci Bella makes the perfect gift for even the most discriminating food and/or wine enthusiast. Ideal for entertaining, always a class act dinner gift. Children love Noci Bella and it is a naturally guilt free treat for all. You will never disappoint with Noci Bella. Gluten free, dairy free. As simple as it gets as wholesome as it gets. Our gift packs are sent out with the freshest product directly to the recipient. Our dedication to quality is unsurpassed.
The Ancient Walnut
Walnuts are the oldest tree food known to man, dating back to 7000 B.C.E. The Romans called walnuts Juglans regia, “Jupiter’s royal acorn.” Early history indicates that English walnuts came from ancient Persia, where they were reserved for royalty. Thus, the walnut is often known as the “Persian Walnut.” Walnuts were traded along the Silk Road route between Asia and the Middle East. Caravans carried walnuts to far off lands and eventually through sea trade, spreading the popularity of the walnut around the world. English merchant marines transported the product for trade to ports around the world and they became known as “English Walnuts.” England, in fact, never grew walnuts commercially. The outer shell provided a natural protective layer helping to maintain the quality of the nut.
Today the nut trade continues to be a well-established, ordered, and structured business, and the California walnut is well known as the top quality walnut for the world. The walnut was first cultivated in California by the Franciscan Fathers in the late 1700s. The earliest walnuts to enter California were known as “mission” walnuts. Unlike today’s walnuts, these first entries were small with hard shells. The trees flourished in the Mediterranean-like climate zones of California, and by the 1870s modern walnut production had begun with orchard plantings in southern California, near Santa Barbara. In the next 70 years the center of California’s walnut production shifted with successful plantings in the central and northern parts of the state. Many of today’s improved cultivars are descendants of early plantings. Luther Burbank is credited with early research in California walnut cultivation.
~courtesy of FoodReference.com
Since 2012
Adam’s Story
I was born in 1956 and raised in Walnut Creek, CA. As a kid growing up, our town celebrated our local crop, the walnut, every fall with a Walnut Festival and Walnut Festival Parade. It was the most exciting time of the year!
After high school I began working as a carpenter and eventually became a building contractor.
Several years ago, after being out late one night with friends, and coming home hungry with not much in the house, I created Noci Bella.
People are surprised when they hear I have no culinary training and that this product was so simple for me to create. All I can say is I was hungry and there wasn’t much in the house. I had some walnuts in the freezer and some honey and maple syrup on the shelf, so I went to work! At first it was too sweet, so I added a little sea salt. Then, to me at the time, it tasted great and seemed to do the trick. I went off to sleep with my hunger satisfied.
I had a little left over, so the next few days I had others try it. Everyone told me my walnut concoction was fantastic and that I should try to develop it commercially. Shortly after that, I tried but I couldn’t remember the proportions, cooking temperature, or duration! The only thing I knew is that it was possible to make, because I had done it once before. Well, it didn’t come easy and I learned a lot along the way, but after much trial and error, I finally got it!
It’s been a great privilege in my life to have all the experiences I’ve had and continue to have as a result of my hunger and creativity that night. I never would have imagined I would be selling Noci Bella to some of the finest food, wine and cheese stores in the country, receiving high praise and recognition from the food and wine community along the way.
All I can say is I feel incredibly privileged and lucky.
I give my greatest thanks to my late mother, Jean Harris, for all she has given me in life, including pushing me to perfect Noci Bella. I am also deeply grateful to all the others who have honored me with their kind words and support.
Here’s to enjoying life’s simple goodness,
Adam Harris | 2019
My mom, Jean Harris, under our backyard walnut tree.
King Walnut of The Walnut Festival.
The Walnut Festival Parade, c.1960s