Squirreling Away Acorns

A friend asked me, “Do they taste good? Is that why you spend so much time collecting and processing acorns?”

I recently learned of Chinook Olives (white peoples’ term) from Wikipedia. “The aboriginal people of the Columbia river valley used urine to cure acorns. Piles of acorns were placed in a hole near the entrance of a house. The acorns were then covered with a thin layer of grass and then dirt. Urine from every family member was collected and deposited in the hole for the next 5 – 6 months. The dish was considered a delicacy.”

No, I am not about to use acorns this way. But I do enjoy and look forward to the seasonal fall ritual of collecting acorns, the meditative processes of bending over to fill buckets, finding the perfect rock with an indentation upon which to smash them with a hammer one by one, picking the nuts out of the shell, then the step-by-step process of rendering them edible.

I enjoy being outside, searching on the ground for free food native to where I live. I also enjoy experimenting with unusual cooking ingredients. Having acorn meal/flour sparks some novel creativity.

I’d remembered acorns as bland, but as I was heating up a recent batch, I noticed their earthy smell, and my heart started beating faster with eager anticipation.

Not everyone has taken the opportunity to feast on acorns. Unfortunate, as oak trees grow throughout the world, and its nuts are tasty, nutritious, and a sustainable food source free for the taking. The only competition being squirrels and resourceful neighbors gathering them for pig food.

C. Hart Merriam, founder of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, says it better than I, in an article published in National Geographic Magazine in 1918. http://soda.sou.edu/Data/Library1/030203d1.p

“That a food of such genuine worth should be disregarded by our people is one of many illustrations of the reluctance of white man to avail himself of sources of subsistence long utilized by the natives. We seem to prefer crops that require laborious preparation of the soil, followed by costly planting and cultivation, rather than those provided without price by bountiful nature.”

This article has some cool photos of Native Americans with burden baskets slung over their shoulders, harvesting and processing acorns. However, there are no pictures showing the Klamath acorn camps where men, women, and children gather round after a meal and engage in removing acorn hulls with their teeth.

I prefer metal tools. My teeth do too. All the better for chomping and chowing down those acorn delectables, like pancakes, donuts, drinks, soup, meatless balls, fritters, stuffing, ice cream, cookies, muffins etc.

Our helpers, Rose and the nut grinding machine

Why don’t most folks consider gathering and eating acorns?

Most people don’t know you can, and acorns are not an instant food, requiring processing time to render them tasty.

It is an easy process using water to leach out the bitter tannins. You can find the process online. Basically, you soak the acorns in water until they no longer taste unpleasant. Natives used to place them in baskets in streams. I use my stove top. My son used his toilet tank, until his wife decided that pushed her comfort levels.

I ended up with four quarts of gluten-free flour, and froze three. I was also able to barter with my son—a bucket of unprocessed acorns for precious carrots, sweet potatoes, and onions from his surplus stash. I especially value the fresh produce now that my vegetable supply has dwindled during my food buying moratorium/empty the larder challenge.

Acorn and sweet rice flour tortillas  

topped with guacamole, hummus, and sunflower sprouts

Some fun acorn facts

*Acorns require 1/10 the water than growing wheat

*Some Native Americans had an acorn storage room and children would use it as a bouncy house,      jumping and cracking the hulls

*Roasted acorns can substitute for coffee

*During WWII, Japanese children collected over a million tons of acorns to help feed their citizens

*Acorns are a cash crop in Turkey, Korea and Algeria

*Oak trees produce acorns for hundreds of years, after they pass the 25 year mark

*Racahout des Arabes, a very popular hot drink in the 1800’s, was made from acorn flour, sugar and thickeners, was often recommended for young children and invalids. It was the precursor to hot cocoa mix, with cocoa replacing acorns

*A pound of acorn flour online is $32.95 per pound

A great source with enticing recipes Acorn Foraging by Alicia Bayer 

along with her family website

http://magicalchildhood.com - Passing on traditional skills to live well on less