So what is an Acorn?
An acorn is a type of nut that come off Oak trees. Some species can grow up to 6cm long and played an important part in the diets of various ancient societies.
There are around 600 different species of Oak tree and they can found in most areas of the world apart from desert and tundra, and they play an important part in their ecosystem. Wild pig, bears and deer all eat large quantities of acorns, with the latter being known to make up to 25% of their total diet on acorns during Autumn, and species such as squirrels depend on them for food to make it through winter.
Where do you find them?
Generally Oaks grow quite slowly and live a very long time, with some species reaching up to 1000 years. Your best bet is to find mixed woodland that’s as old as possible. Pine forests normally don’t contain any and anything to new wont have an one big enough for a decent harvest. Fortunately in the UK they are normally quite common and you don’t have to go far to find one.
Gathering
Its as straight forward as it seem. Just make sure you get the during autumn when they have started to fall and there’s plenty on the floor. There will also be a good number of low hanging ones to pull off but this isn’t normally necessary, as old Oak trees normally live close to each other and produce huge amounts of acorns.
The acorn is an especially good nut to eat as it has a rather high fat content, and fat is a premium in any wilderness, with the only other good source being from animals which aren’t always an option to catch.
Preparing and cooking
When you get your tub of acorns home the first thing to do is to grab a table knife and ping off the cups that the nut sits in.
Next give them a quite clean in some cold water and discard any that have signs of softening or bruises, which happens when the acorn starts to decompose.
The next step is to remove the tannins within them. Tannin is basically a type of oil that plants produce which has various purposes, such as helping to waterproof the skins of fruit. However it tastes very bitter and acorns have an especially high amount of it.
First you need to crush and remove the shells, and then roughly crush the inner seed. An easy method is to place some on a chopping board and then gently tap them all with a rolling pin to crack the shells which makes them peel off easily.
When you have removed all the shells place them in a bowl and fill with cold water, you should see a browny – yellow colour come out straight away which is all the bitter tasting tannin. Give them a rinse and change the water a few times until the colour isn’t coming out as strong, then fill it up once more and leave them to sit for a few hours, changing once or twice more depending on how much is still coming out.
If you are in the wilderness and have some kind of cloth bag, or something which could be used as such, then put the de-shelled nuts inside and dangle it in a stream or river and let the water do all the work.
After you have washed out all the tannin they are ready to eat as they are, but wont be very tasty, and its always best to cook them to make sure any bacteria is killed. After you’ve squeezed out as much water as possible you have 2 options as to what to do with them.
You can either dry them as a biscuit or a powder to be used later in liquid dishes, or form them into some kind of burger type shape and fry them.
If you choose to dry them for later on its quite straight forward. You can either form them into a thin bar type thing and dry them in front of a fan or you can put them in the oven on the lowest setting for a few hours. If you want a flour type powder then dry them anyway you see fit and simply grind them up after. Acorns contain a large amount of starch and act as a good thickener for liquid dishes, and have a nice nutty wholemeal bread type taste.
If you want to eat them straight away then form them into a burger and fry them. They only take a few minutes to cook and when the outside has started to go golden brown they should be ready.
If your cooking them in the wilderness then a flat rock lent up next to the fire will do the trick nicely, or if the fire is small enough you can place your frying rock straight on to the hot coals and cook it that way.
Acorn nutritional information:
Average amount per 100 grams
Calories – 387
Total fat – 24g
Potassium – 539mg
Carbohydrate – 41g
Protein – 6g