Content

• To step
• Tips
• Warnings
• Necessities

Acorns are an excellent food source and in ancient times they gave humans a lot of food options. Nowadays they are back in fashion and that is absolutely right because they are full of B vitamins, protein, fiber, a little fat and on top of that they offer complex carbohydrates. They are also good for lowering blood sugar. But to get the most out of acorns, you need to improve on the rather bland or bitter taste. Here are some suggestions for incorporating acorns into food.

To step

1. Collect ripe acorns. Green acorns are not yet ripe and are not suitable for consumption (but adult green acorns can be left to dry in a clean, dry place). Untreated raw acorns contain high concentrations of tannic acid, which gives them a bitter taste. They can also be toxic to humans in large quantities. Only use and process ripe brown acorns. Avoid acorns that look mildewy, dusty, black, etc. The interior should have a yellowish color. Here are some untreated natural notes of different oaks:
   • White oaks produce rather tasteless acorns. In general, these should not be leached.
   • Red oaks produce bitter acorns.
   • The acorns of "Quercus emoryi" are mild enough not to require treatment.
   • Black oaks produce very bitter acorns that require a lot of handling.
2. Leach acorns to give them a nutty and slightly sweet taste: without the bitterness, acorns are delicious - simply leach them in water for this. Leach shelled acorns by soaking or boiling them in water. Drain the hot water (also called blanching) and replace the water several times. Keep doing this until the water no longer turns brown when you sieve and replace it.
   • Another method is to add a tablespoon of sodium carbonate to a liter of water. Soak the acorns in this water for 12-15 hours.
   • A 'rustic' method of the Native American peoples is to put the acorns with casings in a bag and then soak them in a clean flowing river for several days until no brown water is visible when you remove them from the water. fetches.
3. Remove the leached acorns and simply let them dry or roast them after drying as you prefer. (Acorns can be stored for several months without going bad - this greatly increases their value as it makes them a food source that can be processed when needed.) But you should only use them once they have been leached.
4. Make acorn coffee. Peel the ripe, leached / blanched acorns. Divide the cores. Place them on an ovenproof dish and cover. Roast in an oven at a low temperature to dry them slowly. Stir often. Once roasted (light, medium or dark) you need to grind them. The resulting mixture can be mixed with coffee or it can be used on its own to make acorn coffee.
5. Make or sieve whole grain acorn flour to remove the fibers and obtain a thinner flour called acorn starch! Use the flour to make bread, muffins, etc.
   • Korean cuisine is just about the only kitchen that uses acorn starch. Some Korean noodles and jellies are made from acorn starch. You can find it in many Asian grocery stores as it is a favorite ingredient in Korean cuisine.
6. Make the leached oak with brine. Use a recipe for olives and replace the olives with acorns to make a real delicacy.
7. Replace nuts and cooked vegetables or beans with roasted acorns. Ground or finely chopped acorns can replace many nuts and vegetables such as chickpeas, peanuts, macadamia nuts and many others. Follow the recipe and simply replace certain ingredients with acorns. Like most nuts, acorns are nutritious and very dense.
   • Make acorn dukkah, a dry spice mixture that is used in many different ways, but mainly for dipping bread that has been smeared with olive oil or butter.
   • Sprinkle chopped roasted acorns on fresh salad as part of the dressing.
8. Roast the acorns. Once roasted you have to dip them in a very heavy sugar syrup.
   • Make "acorn rotten". For these candies, use a peanut butter recipe and place them on buttered plates to cool them.
   • Make a nutty acorn topping that resembles peanut or almond butter.
   • Use low carb pancake recipes (like crêpes) made from acorn starch or low carb biscuits, spread with acorn butter and drizzle stevia or unprocessed honey!
9. Add acorns to stews like you would add beans or potatoes. Their nutty, slightly sweet flavor provides delicious depth to stews.
10. Add ground acorns to creamy mashed potatoes or potato salad. This can provide a nice extra flavor that will be happily talked about.

Tips

• Feed ripe acorns to farm animals. Avoid the green acorns as they can be poisonous. Green acorns will eventually ripen after falling off the tree. After they have turned brown, they can be used as food for humans and animals.
• The season for collecting acorns in the Northern Hemisphere is usually September and October (late summer).
• Make acorn oil if you have an oil press. Acorn oil has similar properties to olive oil and is used in Algeria and Morocco.
• In Germany, acorns are used to make sweet acorn coffee, and the Turks use it for "raca wood", which resembles spicy hot chocolate.
• Some Native American peoples refer to acorns as "the grain of the trees" because it can be ground into flour.
• They are good for your diet: Like most nuts, acorns are a food rich in protein. They are lower in fat than most other nuts, but are a good source of complex carbohydrates, fiber (when processed whole) and some vitamins and minerals.
  • Some studies even show that acorns, like nuts in general, have properties that help lower blood sugar and bad cholesterol.

Warnings

• Holes indicate worms, and dark or dusty, mildew-like acorns should be avoided.
• To collect only good and solid acorns, sit under a tree, pick up the acorns, and make sure to remove the acorns with holes so you don't pick them up again. Keep the acorns of a tree separate from the rest. When you have collected enough, dispose of the acorns in a bucket of water and remove the floating ones. Stick the floats in your compost. Or even better, dry and burn them, because many of these floats contain worms trying to eat their way out: that's why they float. Fewer worms means fewer adults to lay eggs and therefore more edible acorns! The acorns that don't float are good for consumption. If they are green, keep them in a dry, shady place until they turn brown.

Necessities

• Hot water
• Drip containers
• Burner, over
• Crusher