Quercus ilex

Description

Seeds can be eaten raw or cooked and vary in flavor from sweet to bitter. They can be dried and ground into a powder, which can be used as a thickening agent in stews or mixed with grain to make bread. Some tree seeds contain bitter tannins that can be removed by thoroughly washing the seed in running water, although this may also result in the loss of minerals. Seeds can be used whole or dried and ground into powder. It can take some time to properly dehusk seeds; one method is to wrap them in a cloth and place them in a stream. Leaching the powder is quicker. A simple taste test can determine when the tannins have been washed out. A traditional method of preparing seeds was to bury them in moist soil and let them winter over. The sprouted seed would be dug up in the spring, when most of the contracting properties had been lost. Roasted seeds can serve as a coffee substitute. Edible oil can be extracted from seeds. In Morocco, there is a population of Quercus suber trees in the Mamora forests that produce only sweet acorns, which can be eaten raw and resemble raw chestnuts. The skin of the acorns can be easily removed. There are also tannin-free acorns found in the Moroccan forests of Quercus ilex, of which the local population claims that about 20% are sweet.

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