Yes and no. Apparently many European acorns don't have as much tannin as the American ones. And I consider the soaking to be a pretty straight forward process. Do it, and you get out some of the bitterness. Do it more and get rid of more of it. etc. I find it more amazing when you have to create a useless middle product and then process it more to make something edible. I wasn't aware that the tannins had a bad effect on the kidneys. Isn't there tannin in tea? nuts-msg (140K) 3/ 6/12 Nuts, acorns, nut flours in medieval foods. http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD/nuts-msg.html Maybe I should separate out the acorn info into its own file? Stefan On Oct 8, 2013, at 9:03 AM, Ted Eisenstein <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >> I think you are probably thinking of "fugu" (puffer fish) and >> cassava in addition to taro. > > Ditto acorns, I am told: you have to put acorn flour into several > changes of water to get rid of the tannins, which do a nasty on > kidneys (aside from also tasting bad). > > > Alban -------- THLord Stefan li Rous Barony of Bryn Gwlad Kingdom of Ansteorra Mark S. Harris Austin, Texas [log in to unmask] http://www.linkedin.com/in/marksharris **** See Stefan's Florilegium files at: http://www.florilegium.org ****