The incredible, edible acorn

Yes! Acorns are edible, not just for animals but for humans as well! To learn more about it we joined the ranger's of Vasona county park.

We all know that the acorn is a seed of Oak tree and near these trees we see squirrels scampering about and collecting these nuts. There are other animals like deer and birds that eat this seed. We learnt that an acorn woodpecker loves to eat acorns and drills holes in to dead tree trunks to stick the acorns in it. When the insects find their way in to these acorns, he devours the insects and acorns. A blue jay or scrub jay bird is an acorn planter and we were amazed to know that it plants about 7000 acorns in to the ground in an year.

The Ohlone Indians were the main consumer's of this nut and knew how to process them. During summer they use to collect these nuts and store in their granary to dry it up. In winter when they were out of other protein foods that they had stored, they would live on these nuts.

To consume these nuts, you have to dry them and then crack them open. Inside is a seed that looks like a big peanut. It is crushed and the husk is removed. It is then ground to a powder, the Indian had a huge stone called bed rock on which they would grind these nuts. we can do it with a mortar and pestel or a sturdy grinder. The seeds have a bitter taste due to the tannin acid in them. It needs to be removed before we humans can consume it. The process to remove the tannin acid is called leaching, where the acorn meal is tied in a cloth and water is run over it.
The ranger had done all the above steps to make the acorn meal (he used the acorns from Valley oak tree) and used it to make pancakes. Lastly we got to enjoy the pancakes with wild mint jelly! mmmm!
Acorn being a seed has all the nuritional values like protein, fiber and minerals. Wonder why this seed is not as much consumed by humans? Maybe we want to spare some food for the wild life!