Acorns are the ripened fruit of the oak tree. They once formed a
considerable part of the food of primitive man and are still used in
some countries as a substitute for bread.
Acorns contain starch, sugar, albumen, citric acid, and tannin; to the
last named all parts of the oak tree owe their astringency.
Acorn Coffee.
When dried, roasted, and ground, acorns constitute a fair substitute
for coffee, and mixed or blended with a due proportion of either
coffee or cocoa they are used as popular beverages in Germany. It is a
pity that the acorn is not better known and more freely used in this
country, seeing that the oak tree is so widely grown here.
Acorns are gathered in the late autumn, when they are fully ripe; they
are shelled, cut into pieces, slowly dried in hot dry air, then roasted
to a cinnamon brown colour, ground, and put away in any air-tight
package.
Beverages made of roasted acorns are tonic and astringent, and are thus
useful in cases of catarrhal irritability of the digestive and other
organs. In Germany acorn cocoa is often given to children so suffering
as a temporary substitute for milk when the latter is found to be
exerting an injurious effect. Acorn coffee is also thought to diminish
the desire for strong drink in those afflicted with this craving. If
used alone, acorn coffee is best served up as a decoction, the ground
roasted acorns being boiled for about five minutes in water, then
strained and served.