acorns-msg - 11/21/18

Medieval use of acorns. Removing the bitterness. Recipes.

NOTE: See also the files: nuts-msg, almond-milk-msg, hais-msg, marzipan-msg, flour-msg, coconuts-msg, almond-cream-msg, chestnuts-msg, Hais-Date-Nut-art.

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From: polsons at cruzio.com (The Polsons)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Acorns give a payne?
Date: Sun, 07 May 1995 18:35:47 -0800

Suze.Hammond at f56.n105.z1.fidonet.org (Suze Hammond) wrote:
>  JTN> From: jtn at cse.uconn.EDU (J. Terry Nutter)
> 
>  JTN> Greetings, all, from Angharad ver' Rhuawn.
>  
>  JTN> As to acorns, I have definitely heard of their use in porriges (though
>  JTN> not bread); I've also heard that they don't taste very good.  This
>  JTN> does not, of course, contradict their use in hardship (indeed, it
>  JTN> indicates it); but it does suggest that people hungry enough to eat
>  JTN> acorns are hungry enough to try other unfamiliar grains.
>  
>  > BTW, do acorns require as much preparation as tapioca to be edible?
> 
>  JTN> No.  My impression is that they need to be ground, then soaked, to 
>  JTN> leech out the problem substance (which I have a feeling might have
>  JTN> been an excess of tannin, but I certainly wouldn't swear to that).
>  JTN> This came from a description of making acorn porrige in Europe.  I
>  JTN> seem dimly to recall something about American acorns not being as
>  JTN> problematic, but again certainly wouldn't swear to it.
> [...] 
>  JTN> Certainly.  My understanding is that they taste pretty vile.  Anyone
>  JTN> on the net ever tried them?
> 
> They were a staple food item of many Indian tribes on the central West
> coast before the white invasion. I tasted some as a curious child. I don't
> recall them being especially "vile". About as bitter as raw peanuts, or
> uncooked split peas.
> 
> Of course they were native oaks. "Pin oaks" I think they're called.
>  
> ... Moreach

Okay, here's the deal. I have done reenacting of the CA Indian life arts for some years. Acorns must be leached of their tannic acids before you can eat them. Yes, tannic acid is the same stuff you use to tan hides, or as a dye mordant. Here's how you leach acorns according to the Central CA Indians:

Shell the acorns, peel them of their inner skin, and grind the clean nuts into a fine flour (a blender works okay, but leaves some lumps). Make a mound of sand about 12" high, level off the top, and make a 2" deep level basin in the middle. Cross section:

                          /-\_________/-\
                         /               \
                     __ /                 \__

Line the basin with cloth, evenly distribute the acorn flour in the basin,
and pour hot water over the flour until the basin is full. Use a branch or
basket so the water doesn't make a dent in the flour. When the water in
the basin is gone, add more water. You'll be flooding the basin 10 times,
and the water should go from hot to warm to cold by the last rinse. Remove
the flour by patting it and sticking it to your fingers in clumps.

I have recipes for authentic CA Indian acorn foods, including soup (or
mush if you like it thicker) and bread if anyone's interested. I like the
flavor. It reminds me of mild walnuts (and it makes an absolutely
WONDERFUL ice cream!) Hope this helps...! 8-)

*********************************************************
Willow Polson, Editor                  polsons at sirius.com
               Recreating History Magazine
"The Resource for Living History Enthusiasts of All Eras"
*********************************************************


Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: rayotte at badlands.NoDak.edu (Robert Ayotte)
Subject: Re: Acorns give a payne?
Date: Mon, 8 May 1995 03:41:11 GMT
Organization: North Dakota Higher Education Computing Network

	You have to have the correct species, not all acorns are good to 
eat.  White and live oak are sited by McGee as most often eaten.  They 
have a high carbohydrate percent (68) which is really very high and low 
fat content.  Oaks also invest their fruits with their favorite defense 
chemicals, Tannins, and as such they need to be ground and steeped in 
several changes of water.
	There are undoubtedly other species that were eaten.

Horace


From: Maryanne.Bartlett at f56.n105.z1.fidonet.org (Maryanne Bartlett)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Cooking for 50
Date: Sat, 13 May 1995 11:52:00 -0800

 -=> Quoting J. Terry Nutter to All <=-

 JTN> As to acorns, I have definitely heard of their use in porriges (though
 JTN> not bread); I've also heard that they don't taste very good.  This
 JTN> does not, of course, contradict their use in hardship (indeed, it
 JTN> indicates it); but it does suggest that people hungry enough to eat
 JTN> acorns are hungry enough to try other unfamiliar grains.

           They can be used in bread. They make a good flat bread, much
like corn bread, actually, or can be mixed with finer flours to make
yeast-raised loaves. I've also used acorn flour to make something like a
cross between a cracker and a tortilla chip. Mixed with barley flour, I've
made deep-fried fritters (kinda like hush puppies) of them that are a big
hit.  

           I had a reference (mine's buried, too!) to an acorn loaf being
prepared as an insult for somebody. I think it implied that he was not
used to better, which would imply that some people did eat this. I *was*
working from the original language on this one so I may have screwed up
the translation, but "acorn" was clear as was the word that implies some
kind of bread or loaf. 
 
 > BTW, do acorns require as much preparation as tapioca to be edible?

 JTN> No.  My impression is that they need to be ground, then soaked, to 
 JTN> leech out the problem substance (which I have a feeling might have
 JTN> been an excess of tannin, but I certainly wouldn't swear to that).

            I would. If you don't soak 'em long enough your flour tastes
like *really* strong tea. You know, when you leave the bag in for a hour
without realizing it and then take a swig? Blech!
 
 > And if acorns tasted as good as tapioca, I'm sure they would still be in
 > use for food, despite the special processing needed.  (Tapioca, after all,
 > is made from manioc root, which is highly toxic.)

 JTN> Certainly.  My understanding is that they taste pretty vile.  Anyone
 JTN> on the net ever tried them?

             Yes, and prepared properly, they're good. They don't have the
*usual* flavour for bread, but neither does cornbread. Actually, if you've
ever worked with *any* nut flours (particularly pecan), the process (and
taste) bears a great resemblance to the acorn variety. The reason that I
mentioned pecans, is that there is a papery membrane around the acorn that
*has* to be completely gotten rid of, just like pecans, or they taste like
somebody's old shoes, complete with a soapy flavour. If they "taste vile"
this is most likely why!

            ...and, since *somebody* is going to call me on this, I have
made my stuff from American acorns, starting from picking 'em up and
peeling 'em. BTW, that my bet why they're not more popular. They take
forever to peel, worse than chestnuts. Oh, and you can use them in
stuffing like chestnuts, too!

--Anja--  


Date: Wed, 24 Dec 1997 09:17:40 -0500
From: "Sharon L. Harrett" <Ceridwen at commnections.com>
Subject: Re: SC - recipe request

> If I may trouble the list, I have a friend looking for a recipe for 'acorn
> cakes'?  Can't imagine why as acorns are so bitter,

Puck,
        Acorns were a staple food for the indigenous peoples of North America.
for centuries. The bitterness in acorns is tannin, which is suloble in
water. The old method was to place your acorns in a net in a running
stream and let the running water carry away the tannin, then roast them
and grind them to meal. Somewhat easier method is to peel your acorns,
then boil them in water, changing the water as it becomes dark with
tannin, until the water remains clear. Drain them, then roast as you
would peanuts in a slow oven until dry and brittle. Grind in a grain
mill or coffee grinder, or salt and eat them as is. I can't find a
recipe here in the house, but if you can find sources of Native American
recipes, they'll be there. Survival cookbooks also will be useful, as
will the Euell Gibbons publications.
        Oh, by the way, White Oak acorns contain the least tannin, thereby
being the best for food. They are high in protein and B-vitamins, IIRC.

 Happy Gathering!
Ceridwen


Date: Wed, 24 Dec 1997 10:59:00 -0500
From: margali <margali at 99main.com>
Subject: Re: SC - recipe request

kappler wrote:
> If I may trouble the list, I have a friend looking for a recipe for
> 'acorn cakes'?  Can't imagine why as acorns are so bitter,
>
> Merry Yule, Puck

acorns tannic acid leaches out and leaves a very mild flavored flour,
and acorn cakes are easy, parched acorn flour, a dolop of melted lard,
salt and water to make it a thick paste, pan fry relatively dry[no extra
fat, it has lard in it] sort of like you do scones
margali


Date: Wed, 24 Dec 1997 11:01:26 -0500
From: margali <margali at 99main.com>
Subject: Re: SC - recipe request

Sharon L. Harrett wrote:
> Puck,
>         Acorns were a staple food for the indigenous peoples of North
> America for centuries.  Happy Gathering!
> Ceridwen

acorn mast was also a pesant staple in europe from prehistoric times as well.
margali


Date: Thu, 25 Dec 1997 10:52:04 +0200 (METDST)
From: Par Leijonhufvud <parlei at ki.se>
Subject: Acorns (was: SC - recipe request)

On Wed, 24 Dec 1997, kappler wrote:
> If I may trouble the list, I have a friend looking for a recipe for 'acorn
> cakes'?  Can't imagine why as acorns are so bitter, but then again so are
> hops and you know how we Pucks love our beer!:-)

Acorns (Quercus ssp). The bitter flavour comes from tannic acid. While
tannic acid isn't really toxic in the kind of quantities you are likely to
be able eat, but why make life harder than nessesary? Leach the acorns by
shelling, and perhaps coarsly split, them and placing in a basket in a
flowing stream (whose water you'd be willing to use for cooking/drinking)
for perhaps a week. You most likely have such a source handy; the tank of
your toilet (unless your tastes are *wierd* remove any sanitary "bluing"
stuff first). Simply place the acorns in a netting bag and forget about
them for a week or so. Dry, grind and use.

You can also roast them and get rid of most of the bitter flavour. Simply
place the acorns on the coals of your fire; when the shell is brown and
charred they are done (about 15'). Or use an oven at 275 C (525 F).

In case anyone is interested, acorns contain 18% water, and 73.2% of the
dry weight is carbohydrate (mainly starch). About 5% fat, and 9% protein
(by dry weight). (The nutritional data are from Kallman "Vilda vaxter som
mat och medicin", 1997)

Roasted and eaten like chestnuts (with butter) they are rather nice.

/UlfR


Date: Thu, 25 Dec 1997 23:17:00 EST
From: melc2newton at juno.com (Michael P Newton)
Subject: Re: SC - recipe request

On Wed, 24 Dec 97 02:28:22 PST "kappler" <kappler at edgenet.net> writes:
>If I may trouble the list, I have a friend looking for a recipe for
>'acorn cakes'?  Can't imagine why as acorns are so bitter,

>Merry Yule, Puck

ok, Puck, 2 acorn recipes:

Acorn muffins
1C acorn flour
1C cornmeal
1C flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp onion or garlic salt
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 1/2 C milk
2 Tbsp. bacon drippings melted

preheat oven to 425F, sift together the dry ingredients. Beat egg and
milk together, stir in the bacon drippings. Add liquid to dry ingredients
and stir just until moistened, don't over mix. Pour into well greased
muffin tins and bake 15 min. or until brown and crusty (18 muffins)

Acorn griddle bread

1 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp. wild leeks (white part) or chives, chopped
1C cornmeal
1C acorn flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp flour
1C buttermilk
1 egg, well beaten
1 tsp Tabasco, or other hot pepper sauce

Melt butter in a small skillet over low heat and cook leeks/chives until
wilted but not brown. Sift together dry ingredients. Add buttermilk and
leeks/chives to dry ingredients and stir well. Stir eggs and hot sauce
into batter. Drop by Tbsp. onto hot greased griddle and bake until
bubbles at edges begin to break, turn and bake until the 2nd side is
brown. (serves 4)

For acorn flour, you need to:
Put the decupped, cracked and hulled acorns in a pot cover them with
boiling water, and boil from 2-4 hours, changing the water for fresh,
already boiling water whenever it becomes dark. They are leached enough
when they no longer have bitter taste. They will darken as they cook.
Drain and let dry off, then roast them for about an hour in a 300F oven.
then you can eat them as nuts or grind them into flour, using either a
food processor, or a grain mill.

From Billy Joe Tatum's Wild foods field Guide and Cookbook. true, the
recipes are OOP, but there you have the ones I have....
Lady Beatrix


Date: Tue, 22 Aug 2000 09:10:15 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Re: Pennsic Tales

As for acorns, I suppose it might sort of defeat the purpose, but you
can buy pre-leeched acorns, peeled and soaked free of tannins and other
objectionable chemicals, at good Korean groceries. I haven't been able
to find out what people do with them.
    
Adamantius


Date: Tue, 22 Aug 2000 16:12:27 -0700 (PDT)
From: Huette von Ahrens <ahrenshav at yahoo.com>
Subject: SC - Acorns

I recently looked up acorns in the "Oxford Companion
of Food".  Unfortunately, the book is at home and I am
at work.  However, IIRC, it talked about a variety of
acorn from the holly oak in Spain that a person could
eat without leaching.  Also, while OCOF agreed with
everyone's opinion that in England during period
acorns were only eaten during famines because of the
tannin problem, it quoted a passage from Cervantes'
"Don Quixote" which mentions that there was a passion
in Spain for eating this particular acorn roasted like
a nut.

Huette


Date: Tue, 22 Aug 2000 23:56:31 -0400
From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Acorns

And it came to pass on 22 Aug 00,, that Huette von Ahrens wrote:
> it quoted a passage from Cervantes'
> "Don Quixote" which mentions that there was a passion
> in Spain for eating this particular acorn roasted like
> a nut.

FWIW, the 16th century Spanish health manual by de Villena includes 
a "chapter" (one paragraph) on acorns.  However, it only discusses their 
health characteristics, and does not give any indication if these were 
eaten as food, or only medicinally.  I don't remember seeing any 
Spanish recipes for them, but that proves nothing.

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)


Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 01:31:38 +0200
From: TG <gloning at Mailer.Uni-Marburg.DE>
Subject: Re: SC - Acorns

This is from the 'Book of nature' of Konrad of Megenberg' (around 1350):

"die aicheln k¸elent mÍr wan die kesten, aber die fr¸ht paid sterkent
diu gelider und fuorent wol, iedoch allermaist diu swein, den menschen
niht sÙ wol, man mische dann die kesten mit zukker. (...) wer die
aicheln prÊtt und si izt, die sint guot f¸r die harmwinden und ir pulver
ist guot f¸r den f‰uhten lauf." (Megenberg343)

Roughly: 'The acorns have a cooling effect (humorally speaking) that is
stronger than that of the chestnut. But both make the body stronger and
they nourish well, but especially the pigs, less the men, except you mix
the chestnuts with sugar. (...) If you roast the acorns and eat them,
this is good for urinary trouble (urge to pass water, micturition),
powdered, they are good against diarrhoea'.

The medicinal passage is to be found later on in a recipe collection,
the 'Konstanzer Rezepte: "Item wer die aichellen brent vnd si ist, die
sint gu:ot f¸r die harnnwinden. vnd ir bulfer ist gu:ot f¸r f¸chten
laff" (ed. Ehlert 1993, 15.1).

In Maister Hanns (1460): "Item ysss gr¸n aicheln f¸r den Reissennden
harenstain" (Roughly: 'Furthermore: eat green/fresh/unripe acorns
against the painful urinary calculus').

Among the earlier quotes, that show that acorns have been eaten by men,
Johannes Hoops mentions an anglosaxon runic source (in: Waldb‰ume und
Kulturpflanzen, 1905, p. 476):

ac by(th) on eor(th)an elda bearnum
flaesces fodor
'the oak is on earth to the men
nourishment of the flesh/the body' 

But in most passages, the acorn counts as food of inferior value (for
pigs, oxen); Konrad von Megenberg again:

"alsÙ nert auch den menschen wein und prot paz wan wazzer und aicheln:
dar umb hofft der mensch d‚ zuo und lobt got, daz er imz gibt." 
Roughly: 'Similarly, wine and bred nourish men better than water and
acorns. Thus, man longs for them and praises god if god gives it to
her/him'.

There were medieval German treatises about the medical value of oaks,
see:
- -- Telle, Joachim: Altdeutsche Eichentraktate aus medizinischen
Handschriften. In: Centaurus 13 (1968/69) 37-61.

The Lobera d'Avila-treatise, Lady Brighid mentioned, with the acorn
passage, was also translated into German in 1531. Later on there were
also abbreviated versions, e.g. in 1551. BTW, Villena, Don Henrique de
Aragon, who wrote a different treatise, mentions _bellotas_ among the
edible food, too (in 1423, if I recall correctly).

Thomas
Here are the references, in case someone needs them:
Ehlert, T.: Die (Koch-)Rezepte der Konstanzer Handschrift A I 1. Edition
und Kommentar. In: K¸hn, I./ Lerchner, G. (Hg.): Von wy?heit w¸rt der
mensch geert. Festschrift f¸r Manfred Lemmer. Frankfurt a.M. 1993, 39-64.

Heyne, M.: Das deutsche Nahrungswesen von den ‰ltesten geschichtlichen
Zeiten bis zum 16. Jahrhundert. Leipzig 1901 (= F¸nf B¸cher deutscher
Hausaltert¸mer Band 2).

Hoops, J.: ‹ber die altenglischen Pflanzennamen. Diss. 1889.

Hoops, J.: Waldb‰ume und Kulturpflanzen im germanischen Altertum.
Stra?burg 1905.

Konrad von Megenberg: Das Buch der Natur. Die erste Naturgeschichte in
deutscher Sprache. Mit einem Wˆrterbuch. Hg. von F. Pfeiffer. Stuttgart
1861. -- Related source: Thomas Cantimpratensis: Liber de natura rerum.
Editio princeps secundum codices manuscriptos. Teil 1: Text. Hg von H.
Boese. Berlin/ New York 1973.

Lobera de Avila, Luis/ Krautwadel, Mich. (‹bs.): Ein nutzlich regiment
der gesundtheyt/ genant das vanquete oder gastmal (...). Augsburg 1531.
[Sp‰tere Auflagen 1551, 1556, 1563.]

Lobera de Avila, L.: Bancket der Hofe vnd Edelleut. DEs Gesundenn Lebens
Regiment. Von eygenschafft/ nutz vnd schedlicheyt alles so zu
Menschlicher speise/ tranck/ vnd gebrauch (...) von nˆten. Frankfurt
a.M. (Egenolff) 1551.

Lobera de Avila, L.: El Banquete de nobles caballeros. Donostia-San
Sebasti·n (R & B Ediciones) 1996.

Maister Hanns, des von Wirtenberg Koch: Guot Ding von allerlay Kochen
(1460). Faksimile der Handschrift A.N.V. 12 der UB Basel. Hg. von
Tupperware. Transkription, ‹bersetzung, Glossar und
kulturgeschichtlicher Kommentar von T. Ehlert. Frankfurt a.M. 1996.


Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2000 23:41:01 -0400
From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net>
Subject: SC - Acorns

Lobera de Avila, _Banquete De Nobles Caballeros_  Originally published 
in 1530.  Modern edition c. 1996.  ISBN 84-88947-59-3

CAPITULO XXX 
DE LAS BELLOTA Y SU COMPLEXION

Las bellotas son frias en el primer grado, secas en el segundo.  Son 
dificiles de digerir, constipativas del vientre, provocativas de orina.  
Tarde descienden del estomago.  Causan dolor de cabeza.  Las 
cascaras dellas son estiticas.  Aprovechan al fluxo de sangre, maxime 
a las mujeres.  Aprovechan contra el veneno.  Polvo de la substancia 
dellas provoca orina, y es bueno para estrangurria bebido con vino 
blanco o con aqua de regaliza (Rasis e Isaac.)


My rough translation:
Chapter XXX
OF ACORNS AND THEIR NATURE

Acorns are cold in the first degree, dry in the second.  They are difficult 
to digest, constipate the belly, and provoke urine.  They are slow to 
descend from the stomach.  They cause headaches.  Their shells are 
astrigent.  They are useful for the flux of blood, above all in women.  
They are useful against poison.  The powder of their substance provokes 
urine, and is good for "estrangurria" [a bladder ailment] when drunk with 
white wine or with licorice water. (Rasis and Isaac.)

note: according to my dictionary of medieval Spanish, "estrangurria" is a 
condition of the bladder in which urine only comes out drop by drop.  
The word seems to be related to "strangulation".  I do not know if there 
is an appropriate modern term.

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)


Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2000 23:58:24 -0400
From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Acorns

And it came to pass on 23 Aug 00,, that Robin Carroll-Mann wrote:

> Lobera de Avila, _Banquete De Nobles Caballeros_  Originally published in
> 1530.  Modern edition c. 1996.  ISBN 84-88947-59-3

::sigh:: That should be Lobera de Avila, Luis.  And I was wrong in this 
morning's post when I referred to the author as Villena.  Enrique de 
Villena wrote the 15th century carving manual... which has nothing to 
say about acorns. 

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)


Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 11:08:45 +0200
From: TG <gloning at Mailer.Uni-Marburg.DE>
Subject: Re: SC - Acorns

<< Enrique de Villena wrote the 15th century carving manual... which has
nothing to say about acorns. >>

I think, they are mentioned in chapter six (De las cosas, que se
acostunbran cortar, segunt las viandas de que vsan comer en estas
partes):

"De las frutas que se cortan o mondan e parten: melones, Áidrias,
pepinos, alficoÁes, granadas, figos, uvas, azimbogas, naranjas, limones,
peras, manÁanas, peros, membrillos, duraznos, priscos, nuezes, castanas,
avellanas, BELLOTAS, piÒones, alfÛztigos e las d'este linaje."

Th.


Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 10:47:11 +0200
From: TG <gloning at Mailer.Uni-Marburg.DE>
Subject: Re: SC - Acorns (Maister Hanns 1460 etc.)

> > Maister Hanns, des von Wirtenberg Koch: Guot Ding
> > von allerlay Kochen (1460).
<snip>
> What is "Hg. von Tupperware"?  In America, Tupperware is a
> manufacturer of plastic food containers.  My mind is
> boggling about a connection between them and 15th
> century German cookbooks.

"Hg." is "herausgegeben", published by. Over here, Tupperware has
sponsored five facsimile editions of old German cookbooks:

- -- Nuernberger Kochbuch 1609 (facsimile only)
- -- Maister Hanns 1460 (facsimile, transcription, translation into modern
German, comments)
- -- Rheinfraenkisches Kochbuch 1445 (facsimile, transcription,
translation, comments)
- -- Muenchner Kochbuchhandschriften aus dem 15. Jahrhundert (facsimile,
transcription, translation, comments)
- -- There is also the Buch von guter Speise, but for this text the Hayer
edition is more important.

As far as I know, Tupperware donated about 2000 copies of each to the
public libraries of Germany, the rest of the books is sold by Ludwig
Auer, Donauwoerth (auer-verlag at t-online.de).

Thomas


Date: Thu, 04 Oct 2001 12:56:39 -0400
From: johnna holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Re:Acorns/was Pennsic Hippies

Druighad at aol.com wrote:
> Anyone have any recipes for acorns? I think they were eaten at some point,
> but I don't know for sure.
> Finnebhir
-------------------------------------
See the recipe for Chikeney #71 in
An Ordinance of Pottage by Hieatt.
Also be sure and catch Hieatt's comments
about doing anything with acorns.

Johnnae llyn Lewis Johnna Holloway


From: "Daniel Phelps" <phelpsd at gate.net>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] RE: Acorns
Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2001 20:18:33 -0400

>Apparently the white oak group species are known as "sweet acorns".
>Gibbons claims that they were a staple food of
>primitive man in Europe, though he has shown no
>documentation.  Anyone have any?

Go to the definitive book on edible nuts, "The Book of Edible Nuts" by
Fredric Rosengarten, Jr.

Pages 265 to 269

Two types bitter and sweet, white oak acorns (Quercus alba) found in North
America are sweet.  The European evergreen oak, (Quercus ilex) has selected
Spanish and Portugese varieties which are sweet and similar to chestnuts in
food value and taste.  They are the belotas of Don Quixote.  If you check
back I believe I provided more information in our past discussion on swine.

Daniel Raoul


From: "Diamond Randall" <ringofkings at mindspring.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2001 7:19:19 -0700
Subject: [Sca-cooks] RE: Acorns

They can be prepared as candied nuts like
the French prepare chestnuts. They can be
boiled them in several waters to leech out the
bitter tannins, roasted and then glazed.  I
tried this 30 years ago at Auburn when I found the
recipe in Euell Gibbons' STALKING THE WILD
ASPARAGUS.  There were also recipes for acorn
bread and pancakes and various acorn meal uses.

Not all species are good to use.  Apparently the
white oak group species are known as "sweet acorns".
Gibbons claims that they were a staple food of
primitive man in Europe, though he has shown no
documentation.  Anyone have any?

Akim Yaroslavich


Date: Fri, 05 Oct 2001 10:00:44 -0400
From: johnna holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] RE: Acorns

Diamond Randall wrote:
>SNIPPED----
> recipe in Euell Gibbons' STALKING THE WILD
> ASPARAGUS. Gibbons claims that they were a staple food of
> primitive man in Europe, though he has shown no
> documentation.  Anyone have any?
> Akim Yaroslavich
--------------------------------------------
Besides the actual recipe in the 15th century
Beinecke manuscript (previous message on acorns),
there are references to acorns in Ann Hagen's
volumes on Anglo-Saxon foods. They were commonly
famine foods, so perhaps the extensive literature
connected with famines would give some idea as to
when and where for anyone wanting to document
their consumption. The Beinecke recipe may be the
only documented actual recipe that can be commonly
found.

Johnna Holloway Johnnae llyn Lewis


Date: Fri, 05 Oct 2001 07:23:50 -0700
From: "Laura C. Minnick" <lcm at efn.org>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] RE: Acorns

Acorns are best known as pig food. You drive your hogs into the woods to
eat acorns, and then send out the teenaged boys to round them up when
it's butchering time. There is a plate in Tres Riches Heures showing the
pigs being herded- December, I think. For people to be eating them would
indicate serious hardship. Remember the Prodigal Son, who was reduced to
eating pig food? Rough life for a Jewish boy... ;-)

'Lainie


Date: Fri, 05 Oct 2001 10:23:58 -0400
From: johnna holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] RE: Acorns

Just checked Alan Davidson's Oxford Comp.
to Food. He says most acorns are used for
animal fodder, but that there are varieties
that were eaten in the Mediterranean area.
He gives an ilex (or holm or holly) oak
[Quercus ilex, variation, rotundiforia) as
commonly grown in Spain and Portugal where
acorns are eaten like chestnuts. Don Quixote
apparently mentions the Duchess asking for
acorns to be sent to her. Maybe there are
Spanish recipes for acorns that can be found.

As for North America, Davidson cites a work
by Lowell John Bean and Katherine Saubel
entitled TEMALPAKH. Banning, CA: Malki Museum
Press, 1972 as being definitive on Native
American usage and preparation.

Johnnae llyn Lewis Johnna Holloway


Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2001 08:06:31 -0700 (PDT)
From: Jennifer Whitbeck <jbwhitbeck at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] RE: Acorns OOP
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

--- johnna holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu> wrote:
> apparently mentions the Duchess asking for
> acorns to be sent to her. Maybe there are
> Spanish recipes for acorns that can be found.

Modernly, Spain has an interesting (for lack of a
better adjective, or more accurate memory) liqueur
made from acorns (licor de bellota). IIRC this is more
common from the southwestern region of Extremadura.
Consequentially, the extremaduros claim they have the
best ham in Spain (doesn't everyone?); the "black
hoof" ham (jamon de pata negra), which they say is so
yummy due to its diet of acorns.

My neighbor reports a bumper crop of acorns from her
black (scarlet) oak this year, which I hope to harvest
soon. If I have any successful, or period,
experiments, I'll post results.

Jennifer


From: Sandra J. <kieralady2 at yahoo.com>
Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] acorns
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

I don't have the reference handy, but I seem to recall
seeing/hearing that "white oaks" were the ones with
acorns that weren't as nasty.

-Clara von Ulm

>>>
I have heard that there are certain varieties of oak that are not
bitter. I am familiar with the NA processes and use of acorns
and they to mention a specific oak that is not as bitter as others but the
book I was reading stated that the Basque ate acorns.
The acorn starch information comes from the fact that I can purchase it at a
local Orient Store. I have yet to try it in a recipe.

Lyse
<<<


Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 10:43:57 -0600
From: "TheBard3" <thebard3 at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] acorns can be deadly!
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

I wa going to let this one go but I can't.  The leaching process you put
acorns through is to remove tannin, not arsenic.  Almost all parts of an oak
contain tannin, which is the reason the bark of select oak trees was used to
tan leather.  And not all acorns need to be processed as much as others to
be made edible.  By my records there may even be some white oaks who's
acorns have such a low level as to be edible right off the tree.

James P.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Glenn A. Crawford" <tavernkeeper at phoenixroost.com>

> A word of caution:
> Acorns are full of Arsenic and the leaching process has to be done
> completely and right. That is why I don't mess with them!
>
> Glenn


Date: Fri,  9 Sep 2005 13:01:54 -0400
From: "Jeff Gedney" <gedney1 at iconn.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] acorns can be deadly!
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

>> A word of caution:
>> Acorns are full of Arsenic and the leaching process has to be done
>> completely and right. That is why I don't mess with them!

> I was going to let this one go but I can't.  The leaching process  
> you put acorns through is to remove tannin, not arsenic.

According to "Arsenic: Medical and Biological Effects
of Environmental Pollutants" (1977), untreated acorns
have about a .1 PPM concetration of arsenic. This is
slightly more than walnuts (.07 PPM) and much lower than hazelnuts (.7 PPM).
That's pretty close to ground water levels, so I think
that acorns arent particularly concentrating the substance
above their environmental exposure.

I think the acorns and arsenic issue is a non-issue.

As an item of comparison, your basic apple can be .07 to
1.2 PPM depending on region (some regions such as cotton
growing areas, treat the soil with arsenic as a bug and
grub killer. I dont think arsenic is used any more as an
aerially applied fog to kill weevils and beetles).

Capt Elias
Dragonship Haven, East
(Stratford, CT, USA)
Apprentice in the House of Silverwing


Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 21:05:55 -0400
From: "Daniel  Phelps" <phelpsd at gate.net>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Acorns
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Quercus ilex is the European variety that produces edible acorns quite similar to chestnuts.   See "The Book of Edible Nuts" by Frederic Rosegarten, Jr.

Daniel


From: Valerie Sawyer <aviceofyork at yahoo.com>
Date: April 12, 2010 2:33:01 PM CDT
To: stefanlirous at austin.rr.com
Subject: Tannin in Oak

Greetings Stefan!
Caught your comment on the Gleann Abhann list about tannins in acorns.  Thought I might be able to confuse the situation a little more for you.  There are two main categories that oaks are divided into, red and white.  Trees in the red oak group tend to have more tannin than those in the white.  On the West coast there are more varities that fall into the white oak category than the red - thus providing a food source for the native population until european settlement when things changed as you know. 

In parts of Europe this situation is similar but with fewer species that fall into the white oak group.  Using oak flour for food would have been a short year survival tactic as you mention, especially toward the middle of the period we represent and almost unpracticed by the high middle ages except perhaps by the extreme poor.  Also there would be a conflict in Europe between using acorns for flour for people or as forage for livestock and wildlife at all times. Lords holding wooded lands would have most likely given preference to the stock and wildlife over people most years and only relent and allow acorn harvest in poor seasons.  Many of the manor rolls that I have gone over mention fines for taking acorns from various forests in England, along with other forest products.

Hope this helps,
Avice of York


To: Gleann Abhann (mail list) <gleannabhann at yahoogroups.com>
Subject: Re: mortar baskets - eating acorns
Posted by: "melinda" mlaf at sbcglobal.net maybard
Date: Sun Apr 11, 2010 3:47 pm ((PDT))

Acorns:

Acorns may be pounded into smaller pieces, and leached - the leaching is to
remove the tannic acid.  They can be leached whole, I've been told, but it
takes longer.  After leaching, they may be dried, ground to a powder, and
used as a flour substitute - I understand it tastes rather nutty.

They may also be roasted, then used as a coffee substitute - I was amazed,
when I was experimenting with it, at how much like coffee it tasted.

There is one acorn, (white oak, maybe, but I can't remember for sure) that
has much less tannic acid - enough less that the leaching process is not
needed, and some people even eat them raw, like nuts.

at least, from what I've read and heard from others - I've only made acorn
"coffee"...

Melandra


Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2010 18:30:35 -0600
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at att.net>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Question about almond flour

<<< I am working on a recipe that calls for 'pounded' almonds. The first time 
we made this we used almond flour for convenience reasons. Now I am making it
again for my mom but do not have almond flour and she says if I try to grind
whole almonds it will make butter not flour. Any suggestions or advice?

-Eleida >>>

European or American almonds?  In the U.S. almonds are primarily a snack 
food and are varietals that are low in oil.  European almonds tend to be 
varietals that have more oil and might turn into butter, especially if one 
adds salt to draw the oil.  I've powdered quite a few almonds in the food 
processor and I haven't had any problem as long as I don't add any liquid.

Bear


Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2010 18:54:32 -0800
From: Karen Lyons-McGann <karenthechef at gmail.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Question about almond flour

Pulse the food processor and keep an eye on it. Shouldn't be a  
problem. I've chopped nuts pretty finely in mine.  Butter is several  
steps further along and easy enough to avoid.

Lady Bonne


From: Elayne Hoover <mariecalledgia at gmail.com>
Date: December 30, 2010 6:06:44 PM CST
To: Barony of Bryn Gwlad <bryn-gwlad at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Bryn-gwlad] Tanning Beds...

On Thu, Dec 30, 2010 at 6:02 PM, Elayne Hoover <mariecalledgia at gmail.com>‬ wrote:
Wet summers make super-acorn Autumns.

Acorns from Red Oaks will always have more Tannin than those from White Oaks.  White Oaks are: Live Oak, Burr Oak, Mexican Oak.  Red Oaks are . . . well . . .  actually called Red Oak.  

And if you aren't sure what kind of oak it is, there's an easy test.  Crack the acorn like you'd crack any nut and taste the meat inside. If it is mild, like an almond or pecan, it's a White Oak. Not much tannin. Good for replacing nuts in your recipes.   If it is so bitter you wish you hadn't just put that in your mouth -- then that's a Red Oak.  Plenty of tannin.  You'd need to soak these for two days, changing the water twice, before you can use then in your chocolate chip cookies.  

As to whether the tannin can actually tan leather -- I dunno.  I grow plants so I can eat them; I don't tan leather.

Marie


From the fb "SCA Cooks" group:

Lauren Bradshaw 
9/4/18
Anyone have any period recipes with acorns? 
Also, period "cookie" recipes would be appreciated.

Anne Young 
Make sure to leach the tannic acid out of the acorn flour before using

Mel Burn 
Some acorns are better to use than others, apparently. You might want to research which. My brain is telling me white oak...?

Ysabel Marguerite du Val 
In case anyone was wondering about the use of the acorn, I wanted to share this with you. Please do not assume that the humble acorn was strictly an native indian food. It is period. It is amazing. The Ch'i Min Yao Shu, a Chinese agricultural text from the 6th century mentions Quercus mongolica, the Mongolian Oak. In Europe, Asia, North Africa, the Mid-East, and North America, acorns were once a staple food. In Spain and Italy, acorns once provided 20 percent of the diet of many people. There are mentions of the use of acorns in Ancient Greece, Japan and Iberia. Please encourage people to continue researching this topic. All hail the mighty oak. And the tiny tiny acorn.

Ea Fleming 
Unless I'm terribly mistaken, acorns weren't used in "period" European cookery. They might have formed part of a peasant's bread, but there would not have been any recipes. Cookies, as we know them, are still developing. You can find recipes for Shrewsbury "cakes", "small cakes", and "fine cakes" that are the prototypes for what we have today.

	
Johnna Holloway	
1:57pm Sep 4

[71.] Chikeney	
Do almonde mylke yn a poot take cornels of okekornes rostyde grynd hem draw hem with wyn or ale do ther to a grete porcyon of sigure saundres & safron & othir poudrs & seson hit up with poudres & the schelles & set a bovyn.

Appears in the Yale Library’s Beinecke MS 163. It appears in Hieatt’s An Ordinance of Pottage and in Dan Myer’s Recipes from the Wagstaff Miscellany. As far as I know from my work on editing the Concordance of English Recipes, this is the only recorded medieval culinary recipe for acorns. There is also this later recipe from: the 1573 edition: Partridge, John. The Treasurie of Commodious Conceits, & Hidden Secrets, and may be called, The huswiues closet, of healthfull prouision. I edited and provided this book and it appears http://www.medievalcookery.com/notes/treasurie.pdf

To make conserue of Acorns, or Gladon. With the vertue of the same. chapter. xxvii. TAke the roots of yelow flowre delice which groweth in moist grownde, otherwise called a Flag roote, washe them and scrape them, seeth them, and order them as ye doo of Elecampana now last before rehearsed, and so kepe it. This conserue is good againste all sicknesse of the brain and synowes, and against all deseases of fleume, vnto women it oppeneth naturall course and termes. And you muste generally learne, that in makyng conserues, frutes and Roots are made with fyre and seething: but Flowres are made wtout fyre or seething. Moreouer the more Suger or Honey is put into the, so it be not past .iii.ii. to .i. the conserue shal continew the better.

	
Urtatim Al-Qurtubiyya
10:59pm Sep 5
Guaranteed SCA-period: From the Fadalat al-Khiwan, a 13th c. Andalusian cookbook by ibn Razin al-Tujibi, which i am translating in to English. Section Three (on meat), Chapter 2: On the meat of chicken:

43. Another Dish [most of the recipes have title like this - so very descriptive ;-) )
Take of chicken and of plump capons that which is desired and proceed in the same way as before, in order to clean it and cut it up. Put the meat into a pot new and large, put on the meat water, salt, plenty of oil, pepper, coriander seeds, a little chopped onion, peeled almonds, pine nuts, fresh acorns, fresh chestnuts, and decorticated walnuts, and carry the pot on the fire to cook.

Then take eggs, at a rate of thirty eggs for one chicken, add there some salt after having broken them, pepper, ginger, cinnamon, spikenard, cloves, saffron in moderation, then beat carefully the eggs with a ladle after after having removed around ten yolks in order to to mix well and incorporate the spices into the eggs. Then check the flesh of the chickens, if you find that it is cooked, pour it into another terrine/ bowl. Then take a large tinned frying pan, Carry it on the fire, put therein oil and clear broth. Then arrange it, pour therein a little of the eggs, arrange the meat in the frying pan and cover it with eggs in sufficient quantity in order to fill the frying pan. Then carry the frying pan on the fire. When the eggs begin to set, take a knife and separate the pieces of meat the ones from the others with the eggs which enrobe them. Then turn them over in the frying pan with precaution and fry them until they are golden and well fried. Pay attention that they do not burn. When all the pieces are fried, remove them, arrange them in a large dish, put thereon the rest of the farce after having bound it while frying it and put back into the frying pan that which remains of the meat and of the eggs until used up, if God wills it.

Then fry the egg yolks. If desired to take the livers, to crush them, and make of them Isfîrîya (garnish) as described previously, do so as well as some meatballs and decorate the dish after having arranged the meat with the egg yolks, Isfîrîya, the cut hard-cooked egg yolks, and the meatballs, add the rest of the fat, powder/dust with the spices which you like.

The almonds, pine nuts, walnuts, acorns, chestnuts are mixed with the eggs when they are put into the frying pan. There are people who put into this farce some dry cheese. And consume in peace and take advantage of it, if God the Most High wills it.

	
Urtatim Al-Qurtubiyya
11:48pm Sep 5
That is the one and only time acorns are mentioned in the Fadalat al-Khiwan.

Urtatim Al-Qurtubiyya
7:54pm Sep 7
From Encyclopedia Iranica article on bread: "Among certain groups of pastoral nomads (e.g., Baḵtīārī and Boir-Aḥmad) varying proportions of acorn flour (balūṭ) are occasionally mixed with wheat flour, especially during periods of famine. The bread made this way is called kalg..."

Urtatim Al-Qurtubiyya
7:57pm Sep 7
IN 1994, Charles Perry wrote, in an article in the LA Times titled "COUSCOUS - A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Noodle":
"In the Kabyle Mountains of Algeria, ahethut is a sort of couscous made from a mixture of barley flour, bran and ground acorns."

Urtatim Al-Qurtubiyya
9:11am Sep 6
According to Strabo (63 BCE - 23 CE) (Strabo, 11.13.11) the Medes made a sort of bread out of roasted almonds. Together with pistachio nuts, acorns, and wild pears, almonds must have formed part of the diet of the young Persians whose initiation into manhood was a spell of open-air life in the wooded steppe (Strabo, 15.3.18).

<the end>
Edited by Mark S. Harris	acorns-msg	19 of 19