They say you can eat the flowers commonly called fleurs d'acacia, which grow on trees all around the edges of the vineyard. The trees are covered in white blossoms right now. They certainly are fragrant.
I've never tried making the beignets with acacia flowers that people at least talk about making here. Our neighbor across the street used to make them, she says, but she and her husband are not often here in the spring these days. That's when the trees are in bloom.
There's a Julie Andrieu video here showing how the beignets are prepared. I wish she'd come to Saint-Aignan and make some so I could try them. The dictionary gives "fritter" as the translation of the French term beignet. The flower bunches are dipped in what is basically a crepe batter and then deep-fried. There's a recipe on this blog.
The acacia flowers grow on trees that were brought to France 400 years ago from the eastern part of North America — the Appalachians and the U.S. Midwest. They resembled a native tree called l'acacia and that name was applied to the imported plant.
So it's actually a false acacia. I knew these as locust or black locust trees when I lived in Illinois back in the 1970s. Nobody knows what the locust tree's native range was originally, because it has been so widely planted and naturalized all over North America and on other continents, including Europe. Sometimes I wonder what our European ancestors did for food before their "discovery" of America brought them tomatoes, potatoes, squashes, peppers, and all.
I had no idea that Acacias are native to North America. The flowers are so pretty, it's almost a shame to eat them. America was also the source of corn and cacao, I think.
ReplyDeleteCorn for sure. Of course, they don't eat much of that in France.
DeleteNice photos- I see the insects enjoy the acacia which I call locust. I bet our European ancestors' food would have bored us silly. I guess they had bread, butter, jelly and wine though- along with meat and cheese- tasty anyhow and they survived so that we could talk about them today online.
ReplyDeleteSomewhere I read that people were making Cantal cheese more than two thousand years ago.
Delete"Sometimes I wonder what our European ancestors did for food before their "discovery" of America brought them tomatoes, potatoes, squashes, peppers, and all."
ReplyDeleteMeat and root veg, Ken.... meat and root veg... and some hedgerow greens... cabbages were developed from Crambe maritima... a seaside plant. To this day, all cabbage family benefit from a tiny bit of salt in their water as they are growing.
Have to try that salt trick with my collards and kale.
DeleteIt works very nicely... they get a richness to the green.... remember, just the tiniest amount... If you make up a 30gms per litre solution, you have the strongest brackish water... we add one yoghurt pot of that to a five litre can of water... and only do it occasionally. One of our fellow allotmenteers used to do his weekly... we were never taht brave.... but he used to win prizes for his cabbages at shows.
DeleteThe collard's native habitat is coastal, I believe. I lived a mile from the ocean in North Carolina, with a predominant onshore wind that brought us a constant, light salt spray. And my mother grew some of the best collard greens I've ever eaten. So I'm pretty sure the plants would appreciate a little salt in their water or in the air. Are you sure about the 30 grams of salt per liter. From what I've read, ocean water contains about 35 grams of salt per liter. So 30 grams per liter seems saltier than what I think of as brackish water. I think I'll try adding 15 grams per liter to the watering can a few times during the growing season. Or maybe I'll just spray the leaves with that solution.
DeleteHi Ken... been out... yes, brackish ranges from 30 to 5 grams per litre... presumably dependant on how far back from the ocean you are and how close to the freshwater source.
DeleteWe added ours at the same quantity 30gms... but made it up in 5 litre containers... then watered that down at 200ml to 5 litre can... lower than our allotment neighbour. So pretty low.... if your mother grew some of the best, with natural added salt from the seabreeze, they probably can stand more... I guess we were probably being too cautious!
Don't forget that chocolate came from the Aztecs in Mexico! What is life without chocolate?
ReplyDeleteWe have lots of these acacias. They are called robiniers in French. Right now it looks like it's snowed, with everything covered in white from the dropped blossoms.
"Sometimes I wonder what our European ancestors did for food before their "discovery" of America brought them tomatoes, potatoes, squashes, peppers, and all."
ReplyDeletedried peas, cabbage
Yes, maybe collard greens and kale. Fava beans. Turnips and their greens.
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