Quercus robur

Description

Cooked seeds are nutritious but difficult to digest. They are crushed and roasted to serve as an alternative to almonds. After drying and grinding the seeds into a powder, it can be used as a thickening agent in stews or mixed with grains for bread preparation. Although the seeds contain bitter tannins, these can be leached out by thoroughly washing the seeds in running water, but this also causes the loss of many minerals. Whole seeds can be used or dried and ground into powder. The leaching process can be accelerated by placing the powder in a cloth bag in a stream. A taste test can indicate when the tannins have disappeared. Traditionally, seeds were buried in moist soil to overwinter. In spring, the sprouted seeds were dug up when the astringent effect had diminished. Roasted seeds can serve as a coffee substitute. Edible gum can be extracted from the bark. There are also reports of an edible substance obtained from the plant, used as a butter substitute in the kitchen; this most likely refers to the gum-like part of the plant.

Guilds