Acorn "coffee" was drunk in South by Scarlett O'Hara and her Confederate compatriots. For Turks, acorns yielded raccabout. Under pressure of World War II, Germans drank Eichel kaffee. Hitler deserved it, opined physician and author Richard Gordon. And according to the ineffable Pamela Michaels, the English used oak leaves to make wine.
But before these more recent times, acorns played an important in early gastronomic human history. Neolithic lake dwellers in Switzerland collected acorns ashore, losing some of them in the mud below their homes to be preserved to modern times. Lower classes as far apart as ancient Greece and Japan fed on the nutritious nuts. Roman researcher Pliny the Elder wrote that acorn flour could make bread. He neglected to report if he himself ate it. In California before the arrival of white colonists, Native Americans positively thrived on acorns. Spreading the harvest over several species, they formed a staple diet for a population estimated to have been in the tens if not hundreds of thousands.
According to that fountain of information Larousse Gastronomique, in some countries, such as Spain, acorns were eaten raw or roasted--at least prior to World War II. Acorn flour, used as a substitute for coffee, was suggested by this Gallic authority to be obtained from Holm or Ballota Oak (Quercus ilex) acorns.
Pigs, bears and deer also flourished on the self-same diet, perhaps for longer than people. And they are able to safely eat acorns of American Red Oaks (Quercus rubra) and English Oaks (Quercus robur) that are high in poisonous tannins and hence bitter to taste. But they can be fatal to horses and ponies. In England's New Forest and parts of France, pigs are let loose in oak woods to eat the acorns that would poison the equines.
The White Oaks (Quercus alba) of North America pose less of a hazard. The nuts--for acorns are botanically true nuts--are comparatively low in potentially lethal tannins. Deer appreciate their sweeter taste. White Oaks are less common than Red Oaks, thanks to the latter's acorns being less appreciate by deer.
Human enthusiasts for such nutty nosh have identified strains or selections of White Oak trees with acorns containing less distasteful properties. This has even extended to commercial enterprises. Grimo Nut Nursery of Ontario, for example, have offered Swamp White Oak (Quercus bicolor) and Burr Oak (Q. macrocarpa) seedlings for sale.
Nutritionally, acorns compare favourably with more familiar commercial nuts--English and Black Walnuts, Pecans and Chestnuts. According to plant researcher Dr. David Bainbridge, Riverside, California, acorns average 5% fat and 68% carbohydrates. Pecans and walnuts are 60% or more fat--only Chestnuts are lower in fat than acorns.
Coming soon to your local supermarket?
Wes Porter is a horticultural consultant and writer based in Toronto. Wes has over 40 years of experience in both temperate and tropical horticulture from three continents.
Acorn "coffee" was drunk in South by Scarlett O'Hara and her Confederate compatriots. For Turks, acorns yielded raccabout. Under pressure of World War II, Germans drank Eichel kaffee. Hitler deserved it, opined physician and author Richard Gordon. And according to the ineffable Pamela Michaels, the English used oak leaves to make wine.
But before these more recent times, acorns played an important in early gastronomic human history. Neolithic lake dwellers in Switzerland collected acorns ashore, losing some of them in the mud below their homes to be preserved to modern times. Lower classes as far apart as ancient Greece and Japan fed on the nutritious nuts. Roman researcher Pliny the Elder wrote that acorn flour could make bread. He neglected to report if he himself ate it. In California before the arrival of white colonists, Native Americans positively thrived on acorns. Spreading the harvest over several species, they formed a staple diet for a population estimated to have been in the tens if not hundreds of thousands.
