Balanophagy

Ever hear of balanophagy?. It means eating acorns. The other day my sister and I were rolling along on top of heaps of acorns on the sidewalk and she was wondering why people did not eat acorns. Deer certainly enjoy them. And squirrels, etc. I have not eaten any since I chewed some as a child and discovered how bitter they were. I remember hearing that during the civil war people made coffee from them, but I think I had rather have coffee weed(sickle pod) coffee. Both seem like they would be terrible.
But native Americans and people all over the world have eaten acorns since the distant past. They collected the least bitter acorns they could find. Apparently there is quite a range of bitterness. Then they are ground into a meal which is leached with water until the bitterness is gone. The meal can then be used in a variety of ways and is very nutritious (high protein). It was cooked on stone griddles or boiled to make a mush or soup. The one drawback to this is that after the meal is ground and wet, it spoils readily so this would have been a daily chore. Whole acorns will keep a whole year.
Bitterness is a key often used to indicate poison, and the poison compound in acorns is tannin. It can cause kidney failure, so if you are planning to do more than taste acorns , be sure to leach the meal well.