Native American - Acorns (part 4 of 4)

This is a continuation of what I have learned about acorn preparation. 
Also see part 1, part 2, and part 3.

Pomo boiling basket, stones, and tools

Acorn (Quercus sp.)

Part 4:  Cooking

The Yosemite Miwok/Paiute Indians cooked the one layer into a mush called nuppa.  When working with the fine layer, they made akiva (soup), and with the coarse layer, they made nuppa or water biscuits, uhlley.  The traditional cooking method involved baskets and hot stones.  The thick layer of acorn that sometimes stuck to the stones when they were removed from the cooking basket made a special treat for the children, called acorn chips.  These were made when the acorn had cooled and hardened, and was then peeled off the stones.  (Ortiz, 116-117)

The baskets were soaked for several hours, then sealed even further by rubbing some of the flour on the basket’s inside surface.  Then the rest of the flour and water was added.  “The volume of water varies according to the age of the acorns.  Acorns stored for ten years don’t thicken as readily as younger acorns, so less water is used.  Less water is also used with ‘green’ acorn, which thickens readily.”  (Ortiz, 110)

The cooking stones, often made of basalt or soapstone, were heated in a fire, often taking 30 minutes or longer to become red-hot.  One at a time, they were lifted from the fire with sticks and quickly dipped into water twice to remove ash from their surface.  Then they were gently placed in the cooking basket and rolled around.  “Within minutes, the mush begins to bubble, boil, blurp, and steam, filling the air with a nutty scent.  Finally, four to six or more rocks later, the meal is completely cooked to the desired soup or mush consistency.”  (Ortiz, 114)

The Eastern Mono, Southern Diegueño, Luiseño, and Kamia boiled their acorn in ceramic pots.  The Gabrielino used steatite vessels.  But the use of baskets and stones was a customary practice in the central and northwestern regions.  (Heizer and Whipple, 304)

When it is fully cooked, acorn has a subtle, delicate, nutty flavor.  It is rarely seasoned, except by the use of one last cooking stone, which is removed from the fire, rinsed, then lowered to the surface of the acorn and moved over the top of the food to “scorch” it.  (Ortiz, 116)

The Paiute sometimes seasoned their acorn by pounding it with clean incense cedar leaves.  (Ortiz, 116)  The Yurok slightly parched their acorns before pounding; the Shasta roasted the moistened meal; the Pomo, Lake Miwok, and Central Wintun mixed red earth with the meal; and the Plains and Northern Miwok sometimes mixed ashes of Quercus douglasii bark with it.  (Heizer and Whipple, 304)

Cooked acorn jells readily in cold water, which is a test for beginners to learn when to stop cooking it.  The uhlley water biscuits utilized this property:  once the nuppa was cooked, it was dropped into a tub of cold water from a wet bowl, forming a “pretty shell-like shape, somewhat curved in on itself.”  (Ortiz, 117)  The tub also contained incense cedar branches, the oils from which gave the uhlley a “refreshing, foresty taste.”  (Ortiz, 118)

Another way the acorn was prepared was to form acorn cakes, small round patties which were placed on a hot stone to cook.  The flat stone had previously had a fire built on it, which was removed when the stone was hot, and the surface was swept clean.  (Ortiz, 116)  The Ohlone made this, too, by “boiling the mush longer and then placed the batter into an earthen oven or on top of a hot slab of rock.”  Acorn bread was described as “deliciously rich and oily” by early explorers.  (Margolin, 44)  Also, some Western Mono women cooked the flour and allowed it to congeal overnight before serving.  (Ortiz, 116)

Whether served as a thin soup, a thick mush, or a biscuit, cake, or bread, acorn was utilized as a primary staple by California Indians because it was highly nutritious as compared to wheat or maize (Heizer and Whipple, 305), did not require farming practices like tilling or irrigation (Margolin, 44), and was extremely plentiful throughout most of the state.  In fact, “while the preparation of acorn flour might have been a lengthy and tedious process, the total labor involved was probably much less than for a cereal crop.”  (Margolin, 44)

Looped stirrers used for handling hot cooking stones

Here is a good introductory teaching packet regarding Native American food.

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I am trying to acquire freshly gathered acorns.  If successful, I will try my hand at processing and cooking them,

Native American - Acorns (part 3 of 4)

 This is a continuation of what I have learned about acorn preparation.  Also see part 1 and part 2.

Image credit: Goddard, P. E. 1903. "Life and Culture of the Hupa."

Acorn (Quercus sp.)

Part 3:  Preparation - Leaching 

The leaching container varied between groups:

Leaching in a sandy shallow depression or basin seems characteristic of the northwestern Californian culture area and most of the central Californian culture area.  The Luiseño and Cahuilla were the only southerners reported to employ this method, but they also employed the southern method of leaching in a basket.  The Coastanoan and Sierra Miwok of central California also employed both methods.   …  Beals reports leaching on bare hard ground for the Southern Maidu … The Shasta employed a device which seems to have been sort of a compromise between the sand-basin leacher and the basket leacher.  (Heizer and Whipple, 303)

However, the process was fairly uniform.  The sand was loosened to allow an easy flow of water.  After it was patted into a saucer-shape, the sand surface was leveled so the leaching water flowed evenly across it.  (Ortiz, 95-96)   The people of Yosemite Valley either laid the acorn flour directly on top of the sand or used pine needles to line it, until the late 1800s when they began to use a damp, thin cloth as a liner. (Ortiz, 98)  “The Kamia used a sand basin covered with a layer of foliage.  Some Eastern Mono lined the leaching basin with bark.”  (Heizer and Whipple, 303)  The Ohlone lined the basin with fern leaves.  (Margolin, 44)

Once completed, the basin should accommodate a layer of flour less than one-half inch deep, ideally one-eighth to one-quarter inch.  If the flour is any deeper, it will take too long to leach – the thinner the layer, the faster it will leach, and if it is too deep, the water will hardly go through at all.  A bed about 24 inches across and 10 or more inches deep with about a 2-inch lip will accommodate 4 handfuls of sifted flour.  The higher the sand pile, the quicker the water will go through.  (Ortiz, 97-98)

The acorn flour was mixed with water and swirled to suspend it.  Once poured into the basin, the coarse particles settled to the bottom while the fine particles floated until the water drained out, creating two layers that could be separated later.  Any lumps were pressed out to ensure they were leached completely.  After the water drained and the flour was packed down and nearly dry, it was ready for more leaching.  A waterbreak, often a pine branch, was used to avoid disturbing the flour by helping to gently spread the clear water across the entire surface.  The water was not allowed to drain completely; more water was added to keep the leaching going until the flour tasted sweet.  Then the water was drained until the flour was firm.  (Ortiz, 100-105)

Next came the removal of the now sweet and edible acorn flour from the basin.

A thin layer of acorn, like the skin on whole milk, sits on top of the flour once thoroughly drained.  This skin catches any dust or dirt which may have settled on the acorn during leaching, and is carefully scraped away with fingertips, then returned to the earth as an offering with a respectful, silent thank you.  (Ortiz, 105)

The part that is to be eaten can be removed as one complete layer or two layers, one of fine texture and the other of coarser flour.  (Ortiz, 105)

Native American - Acorns (part 2 of 4)

This is a continuation of what I have learned about acorn preparation.  See part one for more details on the references.

Image credit: Bella Vista Ranch, "Bedrock Mortars for Grinding Acorns"

Acorn (Quercus sp.)

Part 2:  Preparation - Pounding 

To be used, the acorn must be cracked and shelled.  Much of the description that follows is how the Yosemite Miwok/Paiute Indians prepared acorn, as found in Beverly Ortiz’s detailed book, It Will Live Forever.

One by one, each acorn is held between the thumb and the index finger with its pointy end stabilized against a flat, rough stone.  The stone provides a firm foundation for cracking, while its rough surface provides a place to secure the pointed end.

The flat end of the acorn, which was once attached to the oak tree, is then struck with the end of a small, elongated rock (hammerstone) to crack its shell.  (Ortiz, 49)

The acorn was cracked by tapping it gently two or three times, using a light, downward pressure.  When the shell split, a quiet popping sound was heard.  The shell was removed and the kernel was inspected for mold, mildew, or insect damage.  If any was found, the kernel was “returned to the earth” if extensive, or cut away if minimal.  Small black spots, possibly from incomplete drying, were accepted, but completely black kernels were not.  (Ortiz, 49-51)

The kernels have a skin that is rust-colored and bitter, and must be removed completely.  Some oak species have acorns with several grooves in the kernel, making it harder to remove the skin.  These grooves were opened with a knife.  Often the kernels were rubbed together by hand and rolled against the basket to help loosen the skins.  Then they were tossed into the air from a basket to allow the skins to blow away on the breeze.  Any kernels with stubborn skins were put back out to dry and then winnowed again. (Ortiz, 53-58)

The pounding process had specific techniques.  Some people used hoppers, bottomless baskets that were glued to a rock mortar to help contain the acorns as they were crushed.  Others pounded in shallow depressions in the rock, piling up the powdered acorn as a cushion between the pounding stone and the mortar.  The rocks used to crush the acorn were either “one-handed” or “two-handed”, depending on their length (6 to 12 inches) and weight (four to fourteen pounds).  (Ortiz, 66-68)

Beginners need about six handfuls of whole, freshly winnowed nuts to start.  A palm-sized, one-hand pestle is balanced upright in the mortar depression (even a slight, natural depression on a bedrock will do) so it stands by itself, then one handful of nuts placed around it.  Grasped by the right hand, the pestle is lifted, causing the nuts to fall into the depression.  They’re now in place to be crushed with several light, downward blows of the pestle.

These light blows are designed to prevent the nuts from bouncing around the mortar.  Once mashed, another handful of nuts is added and gently crushed using the same technique, although this time the pestle is balanced inside a small, bowl-shaped pile of crushed nutmeats.  The process is repeated until four handfuls of winnowed nuts are well crushed.  (Ortiz, 68-69)

Once a quantity of acorn meal had been produced, it was used as a cushion between the mortar and pestle, keeping the rocks from striking each other and producing unwanted grit.  Adding more nutmeats to that pile gave several benefits:  one is that the meal kept the nuts from bouncing around while being pounded; the other is that the nuts kept the natural oil in the meal from making it pasty.  “Whole kernels absorb the oil, preventing stickiness.  … If it is too sticky, the acorn flour will form little, beaded clumps during sifting, and it will not dissolve in water at leaching time.” (Ortiz, 69-70)

This process was repeated until the amount of acorn meal desired was created.  The next step was sifting the meal to insure its evenness. “You don’t want to have coarse and fine.  You want to have fine flour.  That’s the right way to make it.  … So fine it blows away with the wind.” (Ortiz, 85)  The coarse flour was either returned for more pounding or kept as a starter for the next day’s pounding. (Ortiz, 92-93)

Native American - Acorns (part 1 of 4)

I want to document what I have learned about the consumption of acorns in California.  This is a four-part series.

Image credit:  Dave's Garden, "Harvesting and Preparing Acorns"

Acorn (Quercus sp.)

Part 1:  The Gathering

Everyone ate acorn.  E. W. Gifford, “California Balanophagy” in R. F. Heizer and M. A. Whipple, eds., The California Indians - A Source Book, 2nd ed; rev. ed. (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1971), 301.  Acorn was a staple food everywhere it was found in abundance and was replaced with piñon nuts or mesquite as a staple only in the desert regions where oak trees were scarce.  (Heizer and Whipple, 81)

Acorns contain tannin and phytic acid, both compounds that function as antinutrition, binding to minerals and interfering with the enzymes needed to digest food, thus preventing their absorption.  These phytochemicals make the acorns bitter and toxic. Some acorns contain more of the compounds than others but all need to be leached to make them edible and safe when consumed in quantity or with any regularity.  California Indians processed their acorns and in doing so, “obtained as much as 50% of their yearly calories from acorns, without experiencing harm” and showing “acorns can be part of a healthful, nutrient-dense diet, - but not in their raw form.” Arthur Haines,  "Do Sweet Acorns Still Need To Be Leached?", Bulletin of Primitive Technology, 47 (Spring 2014), 74-75.

The method of processing varied depending on the region, but many of the steps were similar.  The general approach was to:  dry the acorn, remove the hull, pound the kernel to a powder, use water to remove the toxins, cook, and eat. 

Leaching was the technique of choice for the majority of the people. (Heizer and Whipple, 302)  But before leaching could occur, other steps needed to be performed. 

When the leaves turn yellow, …, it’s acorn gathering time.  Acorns fall from the trees twice each season.  The first fall consists of unhealthy, worm- and insect-infested acorns, and it is left alone.

Winds bring the others down later, in late September or early October depending on the weather.  These good, healthy acorns are heavier than the others, a quality that is felt for as they are gathered off the ground.  Each acorn is also inspected by sight and felt for any bumps or holes.  The flawed acorns are left on the ground to return to the earth or be eaten by squirrels or birds.  Beverly R. Ortiz, It Will Live Forever: Traditional Yosemite Indian Acorn Preparation, as told by Julia F. Parker, 2nd ed. (Berkeley, CA: Heyday Books, 1996), 41.

The caps were removed and the gathered acorns were dried before storage or use.  (Miller, 87)  They were spread in single layers in the sun and checked regularly for insect damage.  Drying kept stored acorn from mildewing, hardened the shell to make it easier to crack open, and made it easier to pound the kernels into a powder.  Sometimes the drying was hastened by cracking the shell with a hammerstone or cutting it with a knife, if the acorn was to be eaten right away. (Ortiz, 45-47)

Created for long-term storage of dried acorns

Image credit:  

Handbook of Indians of California (1919), by A. L. Kroeber (1919)

An excellent source for a detailed description and photos is:

Miwok Material Culture: Indian Life of the Yosemite Region (1933)
by S. A. Barrett and E. W. Gifford

Be sure to click on the Plate links.