The Wild Stone Edge
Long before we planted vineyards,olive trees, and vegetables there was the wild land that existed in this place for several millinnia.Well, that land still exists today-between the rows of vines, along the edges of the creek, and in the ancient oak and bay trees that dot the landscape.We tend to think of food as only what we grow or produce, but there has been all sorts of wild foods that have been collected and processed by humans including mushrooms,salad greens,onions,ferns,nuts,berries-and acorns.
Acorns from oak trees was a staple of the diet of the Ohlone who lived in this area. Our resident naturalist, Kevin, has been collecting and processing acorns for a few years and I have been happily experimenting with cooking dishes with the finished acorn flour. It has a nutty and rich flavor with a hint of bitterness.I have found that mixing the flour with other ingredients such as potato or celery root round out the flavor. My favorite dish is a potato,celery root, and acorn rösti-I serve it with some smoked salmon or trout,sour cream, and apple-horseradish compote.
This year, with Kevin’s help, I decided to learn to make acorn flour myself. It was not difficult-just a little time-consuming.I started by collecting the biggest acorns I could find. The quality,size, and condition varies from tree to tree and year to year. Next, I used a small paring knife to make a small cut lengthwise on each acorn and then removed the shell.
It is important do cut away any part of the acorn that is damaged by insects.I then ground the acorns in a food processor,but not too fine. I put the ground acorns into a pot, filled it with water, brought it to a boil,and then turned off the heat and let it cool.I repeated the process three more times,changing the water each time. This process leaches out the tannin that occurs naturally in acorns. I drained the acorn meal one last time and spread out on a sheetpan and let dry overnight in the oven set at 150℉. The next day I ground the rock hard acorn nuggets into flour in my grain mill. I was rewarded with nourishing wild food that adds something truly unique to the Stone Edge experience.
