Steamed Acorn Bread

Origin: Ancient      Period: Traditional

Ingredients

The basic recipe for this 'bread' I obtained from a Kenyan friend. Upon hearing the details of the recipe I went 'wow'. It's a very simple bread to make and certainly not beyond the skills of our ancestors. As long as you had a yeast culture and the means of boiling water then this recipe and many like it would have been simple to make. Effectively it's a leavened bread containing acorn flour that's steamed. This could have been made as an accpmpaniment to a stew and cooked in the same pot as the stew itself.

30g acorn flour
70g wheat flour
10g leaven or 5g dried yeast
1 tsp honey
20ml lukewarm water
40ml water
1g salt

Method:

During the autumn collect ripe acorns. Place on a baking tray and dry roast them in an oven on it's lowest setting for at least 5 hours. When the acorns are done crack and shell them. 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 cofee 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.

Mix the leaven (or yeast) and honey with the warm water and place in a warm spot for 5 minutes to activate. Meanwhile mix all the dry ingredients together and all the yeast mixture and the 40ml of remaining water. Bring together into a ball, tip onto a floured surface and knead for at least 3 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Roll into a ball, place in a greased bowl and cover with a damp cloth then place in a warm spot. Allow to prove for at least 21/2 hours, or until the dough has doubled in size. Knock back at this point then divide the dough into two equal halves. Knead the dough and roll out before shaping into smooth balls.

Place each in a dish or plate then cover and allow to rise for an hour, or until doubled in size. Transfer to a floured piece of muslin and thie this securly to encase the dough. Tie the muslin wrapped dough so that it hangs above the water level in a large pot (you can do this over a stew) then steam for 25 and 30 minutes. Unwrap and serve with a meat-based stew.

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