Acorn and Hazelnut Pap

Origin: Ancient      Period: Traditional

'Pap', or a gruel made from ground grains and nuts remains a staple in many African countries. Archaeology has revealed that acorns and hazelnuts were both eaten during Neolithic times and Native Americans would travel a long distance to gather acorns. This recipe is for an acorn flour and hazelnut gruel (or pap) which probably proved a staple autumn diet for our ancestors.

Ingredients:

400g mature acorns
400g mature hazelnuts
water

Method:

Preparation

During the autumn collect ripe acorns and ripe hazelnuts. Place both on a baking tray and dry roast them in an oven on it's lowest setting for at least 5 hours. When the acorns and hazelnuts are done put the hazelnuts aside then crack and shell the acorns. Place them in water in a large bucket and allow to soak for at least a week. Change the water at least twice a day. This process leaches away the tannin which is what makes acorns bitter (tannin in large quantities is toxic so you need to complete this process carefully).

When you think you have soaked the acorns long enough bite into an acorn. If it still tastes bitter then soak for longer. If you can only detect a trace of bitterness, or no bitterness then the acorns are ready. Grind the acorns whilst still wet either in a coffee grinder or a blender. Place the resultant meal in pans or on baking trays and place to dry either in the sun or in an oven on its lowest setting. When dry you can store the flour in sealed jars.

For this recipe, shell and grind the roast hazelnuts then mix the hazelnut flour with the acorn flour. Add about 200ml water to a pot. Season and begin adding the acorn and hazelnut flour to this. Keep adding the flour, stirring all the while, until you have a porridge-like consistency. Allow to warm through then serve. Though this dish is a little bit of an acquired taste (and the colour may put some off) the addition of the roast hazelnuts does give the dish somewhat of a chocolaty quality and its actually quite pleasant.

In large quantities children find hazelnuts relatively indigestible, but roasting them makes them a much better foodstuff. Acorns were also a 'survival food' in Europe during famine periods in the Middle Ages so that this kind of gruel or porridge (or at least various versions of it) have been eaten for at least 5000 years, if not much longer.

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