An Old Friend
The acorn has long been a part of the human story. Acorn harvests have been found all the way from Native American homes on the West Coast of North America, to Spain, Greece, and the Middle East. Soba-like acorn noodles are found in South Korea. Acorn coffee has been used in times of shortage, such as the American Civil War. In World War II, Japanese children would be sent to find acorns during rice shortages. In fact, eating acorns is so ingrained in the human experience that it has its own name — balanophagy (ancient Greek meaning ‘acorn eating’). Perhaps it is time to return to our old reliable friend.
Piles of acorns collected at KPC Buddhist Temple in Poolesville, MD.
Acorns come from oak trees, one of our native trees in the Mid-Atlantic. Acorns seem to be everywhere during their peak period of September and October. However, even in the middle of winter, you will not have to look very far for acorns. This year is a mast year for oak trees, which means you’ll find a higher amount of acorns than usual. They are a natural and abundant source of protein and nutrients, and a great way to supplement your pantry.
Acorns are edible, even the ones you find on the ground, but let’s make sure they are ready. There are a few things you need to avoid, namely:
1. Acorns with holes in them. That’s where a bug or larvae has made its home.
2. Acorns that have lost their cap. That’s a sign they have gone bad.
3. Acorns that float (good acorns will sink).
4. Also, do not EAT green acorns! However, you CAN take green acorns home and dry them out. They will turn brown when good.
You can collect acorns by hand, or use a nut harvester like this one to reduce stress on your back.
Now that you know how to identify good acorns, you are ready to gather them and clean them. After gently removing the caps and the outer shell, you will need to make sure the acorns are safe to eat. Acorns contain toxic tannins. These are natural chemicals that protect trees, but can cause abdominal pain and other symptoms such as diarrhea and vomiting. To avoid this, you’ll need to remove the tannins. Unfortunately, this isn’t just a simple wash in the kitchen sink like you do for vegetables.
Removing tannins is a process called leaching. Ancient and prehistoric peoples would do this by digging a shallow pit by a source of running water, then filling the pit with sand, placing the acorns in, and covering them with pine needles or cloth. Then, they would wait for weeks as rain water would wash the tannins away. Luckily, modern technology speeds things up a bit.
The hot water method of leaching requires two large pots and your stove. You’ll want to boil water in both pots at the same time. Now, place your acorns in a cloth drawstring bag, and place the bag in one pot. You’ll see the water start to turn brown — that’s the tannins! When one pot of water turns brown, switch the bag to the clean water and fill the first pot back up again. You will repeat this until the water stops turning brown.
Now, your acorns are safe to eat! You can test just a taste to make sure the bitterness is removed (just a taste won’t be enough to be toxic, if still bitter). You can then dry them out by straining them through a cheesecloth and setting them out to dry, or you can place them on a baking sheet and put them in the oven on low heat. After they dry, you can use acorns as you would any other nut — whether used whole on a salad or dessert, or ground into flour.
To grind the acorns into a flour, you can use a high powered blender, but most people throughout history used a mortar and pestle. You now have fresh acorn flour!
For some ideas on how to use your acorns and acorn flour, check out this link from The People’s Path: http://www.thepeoplespaths.net/NAIFood/acorns.htm
By using the resources Mother Nature provides, we rekindle the relationship between humans and the Earth, and an old friend is made new.
