Traditional Indigenous Acorn Mush

By David Bainbridge
Published on September 1, 1984
article image
Illustration by Fotolia/cirodelia
This depiction of acorn mush is somewhat stylized, but the recipe is more or less authentic.

Although they grew corn, acorns were once a mainstay of Native American diets — at least for those living in the forested eastern third of the continent. And this acorn mush recipe was one of the main ways they prepared their nuts.

Traditional Acorn Mush

1 cup of acorn meal
3 cups of water
a pinch of clean ash (optional)

Mix the ingredients and simmer the mush for about half an hour in a double boiler. Or, to be truly authentic, cook it by dropping hot stones from the fire into the batter, then peel the “acorn chips” from the rocks.

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