Food for thought

The ancient Greeks believed that beechnuts were the first food eaten by humans; ‘fagus’ stems from the Ancient Greek phegos, meaning edible. Historically, nuts have been primarily used to make flour or oil; beech oil was commercially produced in Britain until the middle of the Victorian era. It is still preferred in some French cooking circles over the ubiquitous olive oil and, in some French homes, still ground for a coffee-type beverage. The leaves make salad and a rather desperate Nazi Germany rolled them as ersatz tobacco.

John Evelyn considered that beech leaves ‘afford the best and easiest mattresses in the world to lay under our quilts instead of straw; because, besides their tenderness and loose lying together, they continue sweet for seven or eight years long’. The wood burns well and was traditionally used to smoke fish, including herring, trout and salmon. Perhaps the easiest way to savour beech is ‘roasted beechnuts’. Simply remove the kernels, place on a baking sheet and sprinkle with extravirgin olive oil. Bake at 180˚C/350˚F/ gas mark 4 until golden. Drain on kitchen towel, toss in ground sea salt and eat as a party nibble.