Post by Okwes on Jul 22, 2006 11:20:59 GMT -5
Hickory Nut
One of the hard woods used to make the lye for hominy was hickory. The nut was also just as important. The nut was generally gathered in the months of September, October and early November. Once they were gathered, they were dried
in a dry place for at least seven days or longer. Most of the time the
children were given the task of cracking the shells while the adults would remove
the nut. Let the child remove it and he ate more than he cracked. There are
places this is still done in the old manner. It also makes the job more of a
family affair. Children often competed to see which ones could crack the
shells without pulverizing the meat inside so that the largest possible pieces
could be easily removed.
It takes just over 200 nuts to make just one pound of nutmeat. It takes over
four hours to break the shells of these and remove the meats. The nut meats
were used to make a flour with and also mixed with water to make a milk that
we used in small “cakes” and in soups. We introduced it to the European who
quickly adapted it to use in their cakes and breads.
The easier way of removing the nut meat was to place a batch of the nuts
into the stump used for grinding corn and grain. The nuts would be pounded and
water added. The shells would be sifted from them and the oil collected and
used. (I already posted most of this).
This is the modern way of making Hickory Nut Cream. (More work and fun doing
it the old way).
One of the hard woods used to make the lye for hominy was hickory. The nut was also just as important. The nut was generally gathered in the months of September, October and early November. Once they were gathered, they were dried
in a dry place for at least seven days or longer. Most of the time the
children were given the task of cracking the shells while the adults would remove
the nut. Let the child remove it and he ate more than he cracked. There are
places this is still done in the old manner. It also makes the job more of a
family affair. Children often competed to see which ones could crack the
shells without pulverizing the meat inside so that the largest possible pieces
could be easily removed.
It takes just over 200 nuts to make just one pound of nutmeat. It takes over
four hours to break the shells of these and remove the meats. The nut meats
were used to make a flour with and also mixed with water to make a milk that
we used in small “cakes” and in soups. We introduced it to the European who
quickly adapted it to use in their cakes and breads.
The easier way of removing the nut meat was to place a batch of the nuts
into the stump used for grinding corn and grain. The nuts would be pounded and
water added. The shells would be sifted from them and the oil collected and
used. (I already posted most of this).
This is the modern way of making Hickory Nut Cream. (More work and fun doing
it the old way).