Sometimes you just have a magical day. Last Tuesday was like that-- beautiful blue sky, a light breeze, leaves crackling underfoot and trees settling more into their autumn colors with each passing moment. (Right: Old Schoolhouse Road, Fahnestock State Park by wide eyed lib)
As if the weather and the scenery weren't beautiful enough, I stumbled across a huge patch of wild peppermint. Shortly after that, I tripped over something round buried beneath the leaves, landing on my knees. What on earth? A step later there was another, and this one I excavated to discover a lemon-scented tennis ball. I looked up and saw several mature black walnut trees. In minutes I'd collected a shopping bag full of nuts.
Walking back to the car, I took the photo you see here. All that and rainbows too. Fall is beautiful.
Covered: hickory, black walnut & butternut
[As always, if you're new to foraging and want to give it a try, please read the first diary in the FFF series for some important information.]
Today's first nut tree is actually a whole family of trees, the hickories. Hickories are the 20 or so species in the Carya genus, a dozen of which are native to North America. Hickories as a group are tall, slow maturing trees that are fairly common in forests with rich soil from Texas to North Dakota and all points eastward, including northeastern Canada. They all have pinnately compound leaves with between 5 and 13 toothed leaflets, and in Spring they develop large, dangling clusters of green, male catkins and smaller green clusters of female flowers. To ensure continuing diversity, hickory trees will not self-pollinate. Instead, they rely on wind to carry the male pollen from nearby trees to the female flowers. The large nuts have green husks that typically split into 4 sections when mature. (Left: Shagbark Hickory Leaf by wide eyed lib)
It's a good thing that hickories typically live about 250 years because it sometimes takes 80 years for them to develop nuts. Some of the hickory species are very difficult to tell apart, but luckily no species has poisonous nuts, though some may be too bitter to bother collecting. Apart from their edible and often delicious nuts, all species can be tapped like sugar maples to produce a sweet syrup with smoky overtones. The wood is hard and durable, making it ideal for tool handles and hockey and lacrosse sticks. And of course you can't make hickory-smoked barbeque without hickory wood.
Perhaps the most famous member of the genus is C. illinoinensis, better known as the pecan. Pecan trees have reddish bark with ridges that run up and down. The leaves are alternate, 1-2 feet long and have at least 9 (and sometimes in excess of 13) toothed, lance-shaped leaflets. The fruits are smooth oblongs with 4 raised ridges that typically grow in clusters of 3 to 6. Pecan trees generally grow as far north as the Mason-Dixon line and as far west as Texas. (Right: Shagbark Hickory Bark by wide eyed lib)
Alas, I'd have to go a bit south to find pecans, so I concentrate my hickory-gathering on the shagbark hickory (C. ovata) which bears what's generally considered the next best nut in the hickory family. Shagbark hickories are also one of the easiest trees in the genus to identify because of their distinct grey, shaggy bark. Their leaves are about a foot long and consist of 5 or 7 faintly toothed leaflets, the last 3 of which are considerably larger than the others. Its fruits are about an inch long and have 2 sunken creases that cross at the ends. As the nut inside matures, the fruit splits into 4 sections. Shagbark hickories are found every place other hickories are with the sole exception of Florida.
Other hickory species include:
• mockernut hickory or white hickory (C. tomentosa), which has similar leaves to shagbark but a smaller fruit and correspondingly smaller nuts. It's found from NY to Michigan and south to Texas and Florida.
• shellbark hickory (C. laciniosa), which generally has 9 leaflets and lacks the size differential that the end leaflets of shagbark have. Its nuts are between mockernut and shagbark in size. (Left: Shagbark Hickory Fruit by wide eyed lib)
• pignut hickory or bitternut hickory (C. cordiformis) which has five to nine leaflets that are narrower than shagbark's. Its slightly oblong fruit only partly splits when mature, and its nuts are generally considered too bitter to eat. I've gathered some to see if they can be leeched like acorns, and I'll report back if I'm successful.
All hickory nuts are extremely popular with squirrels, chipmunks and other critters, so it's best to gather the fruits before they split open and allow them to mature in a paper bag. Once the fruits turn brown and split, the nuts in their shells are easy to remove, and the shells can be dispatched with an ordinary nutcracker. Shelled or no, they can be kept at room temperature for only a few weeks after maturing; their extremely high oil content turns them rancid quickly. Refrigeration doubles their shelf-life, and they can be frozen indefinitely. Unsurprisingly, hickory nuts have a flavor similar to pecans, and they can be used in any pecan recipe. They're high in essential fatty acids, protein and carbohydrates, and provide decent amounts of iron, phosphorus, potassium, trace minerals and Vitamins A and C.
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The final nut group that we'll forage alongside the squirrels is the walnut group (Juglans genus). This genus comprises 21 species, 15 of which can be found in the U.S. and Canada and 7 of which are native. Walnut trees all share feather compound leaves, ropey bark and lemon-scented fruits. One species or other grows in the eastern half of Canada and every U.S. state except Nevada, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Alaska and Hawaii. This entry will focus primarily on the 2 most widespread species, black walnut (J. nigra) and butternut (J. cinerea). (Right: Black Walnut Bark by wide eyed lib)
The black walnut had almost legendary status for me long before I started foraging in earnest. As someone very interested in food and cooking, I kept coming across teasing references to black walnuts in recipes. "The flavor is greatly improved by substituting up to half of the walnuts with black walnuts," they would say. Or, "Although English walnuts can be substituted, black walnuts are worth the expense." Every once in a while I would look for black walnuts in a grocery store but I never found them. They became like the holy grail for me. So I was thrilled when I learned to identify and harvest them for myself. {These days, of course, they're easily available online, though they cost about twice as much as English walnuts (J. rigia).}
Black walnuts are tall trees that can reach 120 feet with compound leaves up to 2 feet in length. A single leaf may be comprised of as many as 24 narrow leaflets with tiny teeth and downy undersides. When crushed, the leaves smell lemony. Black walnut trees flower in early Spring, just as the leaves are unfolding from their buds. Like hickories, black walnuts have dangling male catkins and small female catkins. The fruit grows throughout the Summer and Fall, greatly resembling a tennis ball-- it's green and a bit bumpy. Gathered into a bag, the fruits will release a delicious lemon scent.
Inside the fruit is a many ribbed shell that, next to diamonds, may be the hardest substance on earth. (Well, it will certainly seem that way when you try to crack them.) Their nearly impenetrable shells hide nuts that look much like their English sisters but are, as all those recipes tauntingly suggested, much deeper and richer in flavor and aroma. Collecting them isn't difficult. You can gather them whole, but they're heavy, bulky and may make a big mess at home. If at all possible, I recommend crushing them on the spot between your non-white, non-new sneaker and a rock to get rid of the fruit. You may see larvae in the fruit, but provided you're collecting the fruits shortly after they've fallen, they won't have penetrated into the nut yet. (Warning: the rotting fruit and the nut shells both contain a color-fast brown dye, so handle them accordingly.) (Left: Black Walnut Leaf by wide eyed lib)
Once the fruit is removed, I put the nuts in the oven on the lowest possible setting for 2 hours and keep the door cracked so the moisture can escape. This dries out any remaining fruit, kills all larvae, renders the brown dye harmless and improves the flavor of the nuts inside. At this point you can set them aside for a week or 2 while you figure out the best way to get inside. Don't waste your time with any hand-held nutcrackers you have around. Trust me on this. You'll break the nutcracker or crush your fingers long before the shell breaks. I've also tried a handsaw, pliers and an ice pick without success. My guess is that black walnuts inspired the phrase "a tough nut to crack."
The elegant solution to getting at the nutmeat is a nutcracker designed especially for black walnuts, such as this one. Such nutcrackers have the advantage of crushing mostly the shell but cost about $40-$50. Second best is a heavy duty vise, but only if you already own one or were planning to get one anyway because they're even more expensive. This method will crush the nuts a bit, but also yield some decent sized pieces.
If all else fails, you can use a sledge hammer or even a brick or other heavy, flat rock against a very hard surface. This method will pretty much entirely crush the nuts, and it will take quite a bit of time to sort the nutmeat from the shell fragments. (And you should sort carefully-- In a battle between a shell fragment and your tooth, the shell fragment will win every time.) However you crack them, if at all possible you want to exert pressure on the poles rather than the sides, and it's a good idea to cover the nut with a cloth as you're cracking it to contain any fragments. (If anyone knows a better method, I'm all ears!)
Your hard-earned nutmeat is delicious eaten out of hand or in any walnut recipe. If you're not used to the flavor of black walnuts, start by replacing between 1/4 and 1/2 of the amount of walnuts in a recipe with black walnuts. (This also stretches them if you don't have many.) It's an addictive flavor, though, so don't be surprised if you're soon making recipes with 100% black walnuts. (Above right: Black Walnut Fruits by wide eyed lib)
Butternut trees rarely reach the majestic height of their close relative the black walnut, maxxing out at about 80 feet. Their feather-compound leaves resemble those of black walnut but have a terminal leaflet, so that each leaf is made up of an odd number of leaflets. The male and female flowers
resemble those of black walnut, but the fruit is shaped more like a miniature green football and grows in clumps of about 5-7. The fruit is fragrant like black walnut but has a sticky texture. It's also more difficult to remove from the nut. I've found it best to dry the nuts in the oven on the lowest setting with the door ajar. After about 2 hours the fruit will dry out and shrivel to nothing. (If you try to remove the fruits a different way, be aware that they contain the same brown dye as black walnuts.) Their shells are nearly as hard as black walnuts' but lack the labyrinthine chambers. From this point they can be cracked using the methods suggested for black walnuts. Butternuts are a bit milder in flavor and more buttery tasting than black walnuts or English walnuts, so I tend to use them in simple recipes and cut back on the spices so that I don't overpower their unique flavor. (Above left: Unshelled Black Walnuts by wide eyed lib)
As with hickory nuts, black walnuts and butternuts are favorite foods of many of our furry friends. Gather them when you see them; if you wait even a day, they may all be gone.
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I hope you've enjoyed this 3-part romp with our bushy-tailed neighbors. The next time you see a squirrel with a nut, take a closer look. He may point you toward some really delicious Fall treats!
See you next Sunday!
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If you're interested in foraging and missed the earlier diaries in the series, you can click here for the previous 28 installments. As always, please feel free to post photos in the comments and I'll do my best to help identify what you've found. (And if you find any errors, let me know.)
Here are some helpful foraging resources:
"Wildman" Steve Brill's site covers many edibles and includes nice drawings.
"Green" Deane Jordan's site is quite comprehensive and has color photos and stories about many plants.
Green Deane's foraging how-to clips on youtube each cover a single plant in reassuring detail.
Linda Runyon's site features only a few plants but has great deals on her dvd, wild cards and books (check out the package deals in particular).
Steve Brill's book, Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not So Wild) Places is my primary foraging guide. (Read reviews here, but if you're feeling generous, please buy from Steve's website.)
Linda Runyon's book The Essential Wild Food Survival Guide contains especially detailed information about nutritional content and how to store and preserve wild foods.
Samuel Thayer’s book The Forager's Harvest is perhaps the finest resource out there for the 32 plants covered. The color photos and detailed harvest and preparation information are top-notch.
Steve Brill also offers guided foraging tours in NYC-area parks. Details and contact info are on his website.
Finally, the USDA plants database is a great place to look up info on all sorts of plants.
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