**ACORN (Quercus, about sixty species), BELLOTA**

Garrett, Theodore Francis (edited by). 1898. the Encyclopedia of Practical Cookery. L. Upcott Gill, 170, Strand, W.C. London. Vol. I

(literally, oak (ac) corn - At an early period of barbaric existence this fruit of the oak was ground into meal to make a kind of cake, or bread. In modern times it is regarded as food fit only for hogs, and even that is disputed. It is stated that in Germany acorns are sometimes chopped up and roasted to be used medicinally by invalids as coffee; by this process of roasting much of their intense astringency is destroyed.

Excerpted and Modified from Kavasch, Barrie. 1979. Native Harvests. Recipes and Botanicals of the American Indian. Vintage Books, A Division of Random House, New York.

North American oaks (about 60 native species) are divided into two groups: WHITE OAKS (Quercus laba) and RED OAKS (Quercus rubra). White oaks generally have rounded lobed leaves and sweet acorns that mature in one season. Red oaks generally have pointed bristle-tipped lobed leaves and bitter acorns that generally require two years to mature.

All acorns are edible, nutritious food, but some require careful preparation to make them edible and safe. White oak acorns may be eaten raw, but before eating red oak acorns it is first essential to leach out the bitter, constipating tann that makes them toxic,. The shelled acorns are soaked in several water baths, sometimes mixed with wood ashes, until the nutmeats sweeten.

Most nutmeats, including sweet white oak acorns, were eaten raw by a number of tribes, especially the Algonquins. Nuts were pounded into meal to be used in breads, soups, and for seasonings; they were also ground in a mortar with water to make a flavorful nut "milk" to add to various dishes. Nut oils were rendered by boiling the nutmeats and meal then skimming off the oil. Breads were usually "cakes" made by miing cornmeal with what was left in the bottom of the pot after nut oils were rendered, and then frying this batter in hot fat or roasting it in hot coals.

Berzok, Lindsa Murray. 2005. American Indian Food. Food in American History. Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut.

Acorns from the white oak were the most important food for the California tribes, including the Northern Paiute, Southeast Salish, Pomo, Tubataulabal, Yokut, Yosemite, Yurok and Washo. They were also much appreciated by the peoples of the Southwest who often ate them raw; those of the Northeast, where the Iroquois valued them as highly as maize; and natives living in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, Arizona, Nevada, Louisiana and Utah. Apache women cracked the nuts on a flat stone by rolling over them with a stone cylinder. Batches of acorns were boiled together in a tight-meshed basket to produce the mush that constituted a meal.

Acorns provided a huge fall harvest but required special processing called leaching before they were edible. The high natural concentration of tannic acid in the nuts made them etremely bitter and toxic, causing indigestion. The Indians, however, by discovering leaching were able to transform an inedible food into a primary one. After drying the acorns, cracking them open and grinding the nuts into the meal, they washed (leached) it in water multiple times. At first washing, the water was yellow, indicaitng tannic acid. When it finally ran clear, the women knew that most of the tannins had been leached out. The resulting sweet meal could then be pounded into flour that made a heavy, unleavened bread.

Acorn oil was valued as much as meal. When the nuts were boiled, their oil floated to the surface, where it was skimmed into pottery jars, gourds or skins for storage. Early records suggest that collection of oil was facilitated with ashes. English traveler John Josselyn writes that the New England Indians used ashes of maple. "The Natives draw an Oyl, taking the rotteneft Maple Wood, which being burnt to athes, they make a ftrong Lye therewith wherein they boyl their white Oak-Acorns until the Oyl fwim on the top in great quantity, this they fleet off, and put into bladders….[T]hey eat it likewife with their Meat, it is an excellent clear and fweet Oyl."

The high fat content of acorns makes them calorically superior to most grains; one pound of meal contains 2,160 calories. Although they have less protein than wheat or barley, they are comparable in carbohydrates. Acorns were easily stored either in dwellings or in raised outdoor granaries and lasted sometimes for as long as two years.

Kavasch, Barrie. 1979. Native Harvests. Recipes and Botanicals of the American Indian. Vintage Books, A Division of Random House, New York.

Acorn shells are roasted until their astringent quality, then steeped in boiling water or sap for use as a wholesome coffee drink.

http://www.lingolex.com/spanishfood/glossayen.htm DeVry University Spanish Food. Accessed July 2009

Bellota is Spanish for acorn.

Niethammer, Carolyn. 1974. American Indian Food and Lore. Macmillian Publishing Co., Inc., New York.

SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Quercus emoryil, Quercus reticulata, Quer4cus turbinella, Quercus grisea, Quercus arizonica
HABITAT AND DESCRIPTION: These oak species (except for Quercus turbinella) may grow to become large trees up to 60 feet high or they may mature as shrubs. The different species will be found in the 3,000 to 8,000-foot altitude range in the foothills and canyons of western Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, California, and nortehrn Mexico. They produce a small, relatively sweet acorn, which ripens in late July and August.

When all the southwestern indians doing their food-gathering in supermarkets these days, it is only those native dishes with special appeal that have survived time to appear regularly on the dinner table. Acorn stew is one that has not faded in popularity. Many Apache housewives still keep a store of acorn meal on hand to make this much relished dish. Some collect and use more than one hundred pounds of acorns a year.

According to Grace Mitchell, leader of the Yavapai tribe, Yavapai cowboys who work on the desert carry only a pocketful of acorns and some water for lunch. "They say it really fills them up," she remarked.

Other southwestern Indians who used acorns include the Pimas, the Papagos, and the Navajos.

The Indians of central, northern, and coastal California used acorns to a much greater extent than did the desert Indians. To the California Indians, acorns were the staple and most important food. the type of acorn that grows in the area of California is much larger than the desert variety and also more bitter, owing to a greater amount of tannin. The tannin had to be leached out with water before the seeds were palatable.

Some of the southwestern Indian groups ate acorns only raw or gound into meal that was used to thicken stews. other groups roasted the acorns before eating them.

When gathering acorns, reject any shells with a little hole, for that means a worm has gtotten to that acorn before you. To further cull the acorns, put them all in a bucket of water; the hollow ones will float. A sprinkling of wood ashes will protect stored acorns against worms.

Apache wokmen crack the acorn shells on a flat stone using a 6- or 7-inch stone cylinder, which they roll over the nuts. A regular metate works just as well, as would any two flat stones.

IMAGES

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

REFERENCES/RESOURCES

Compiled for Food Resource http://food.oregonstate.edu