HOT TREND: ACORNS

Trends aren’t necessarily new ideas – acorn kernels are an ancient foodstuff and now, both an ingredient and an inspiration in modern cooking. Chef Ollie Dabbous (formerly of Dabbous and now at the helm of Hide) was early off the mark in 2014 with his acorn praline, served with barbecued Ibérico pork. If you’ve eaten Ibérico pork, then you’ll have tasted that nutty background flavour already – Ibérian pigs eat a lot of acorns. In 2016 Agern (Danish for acorn) opened in New York, a nod to an indigenous culinary foodstuff in Scandinavia. Fast-forward to 2018 and Instagram favourite acorn pudding is on the menu at Hide, acorn gin is available at Sabores Extremeños (saboresextremenos.com) as is acorn flour at amazon.com. Raw acorns aren’t fit for human consumption as they’re incredibly bitter, but once processed, they can be eaten whole or ground. Try using the flour in cakes, biscuits and pancakes to add a slightly more robust texture and hint of nuttiness.