Acorn recipes tend to be rather bland and boring. Most folk grind them into flour and add that to breads or as a thickener for stews and casseroles. For this acorn recipe I decided to do something a little different. Why not spice them up and pickle them.
So there I was starring at my freshly processed batch of acorns and wondering what on earth I could do with them. Then a flash of Pickled Walnuts came to mind. “Ah-ha” I thought. These crafty acorns had just revealed how they wanted to be preserved.
For this acorn recipe I used English Oak (Quercus robur), however I think that acorns from Holm Oak (Quercus ilex) might go down rather well too because they contain less tannin and therefore require less processing, which would result in a firmer pickled acorn.
Ingredients
- 550g whole/halved acorns (Must be processed so tannin is removed)
- 6tsp sea salt
- 500ml malt vinegar
- 150g sugar
- ½tsp ground black pepper
- ½tsp ground allspice
- ½tsp ground cloves
- ½tsp ground cinnamon
- 1tbsp freshly grated ginger
Suggested Instructions
- Cover acorns in salted water for 24 hours.
- Strain and allow to air dry for a few hours.
- In a pan add the black pepper, allspice, cloves, cinnamon, grated ginger and malt vinegar. Bring to boil then simmer for 10 minutes.
- Spoon acorns into jars, then cover with the spiced vinegar and seal.
- If you get twitchy you can eat them after 14 days, but they are best if allowed to mature for between 3-6 months.
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I wish you had posted this back in the autumn, I was literally swimming in acorns.
Robin,
What is your preferred method of processing acorns?
Kind regards,
Chris
Chris: Here’s a short article on how to process acorns.
Are they pickled in the shells or do you remove them from the shalls after processing?
Ian: You need to remove the shells and use only the nut in the recipe.
Whoop – another recipe I can use here on the other side of the ‘pond’
. Will try it next year for sure. Thanks!!
I’m just about to try this recipe and I was just wondering if anybody has actually tried the finished product? How does it turn out?
…and when do you add the sugar?
I can confirm that spiced pickled acorns are highly edible. Today I opened the jar I made when the acorns were in season earlier this year. Tasty stuff!
I cannot abide the vinigary pickled taste in anything, perhaps I could salt them then toast themwith the spices? What do you think? Like Dry nuts…. but how long would they last toasted or pickled?
Cathleen: Not sure about toasting the acorns, you’ll have to try it out. And I have no idea how long they would keep.