The Southeast - hickory 'milk'

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hickory 'milk'

Printed From: Foods of the World Forum
Category: The US and Canada
Forum Name: The Southeast
Forum Discription: Slow Southern comfort cooking at its best
URL: http://foodsoftheworld.ActiveBoards.net/forum_posts.asp?TID=4670
Printed Date: 26 March 2026 at 20:33

Topic: hickory 'milk'

Posted By: Tom Kurth
Subject: hickory 'milk'
Date Posted: 06 September 2016 at 19:11

Anybody ever hear of hickory 'milk'? I am reading "1491" by Charles C. Mann (second Vintage edition, p. 302):

Hickory (nut) was another favorite (of the Indians' diet). Rambling through the Southeast in the 1770's, the naturalist William Bartram observed Creek families storing a hundred bushels of hickory nuts at a time. "They pound them into pieces, and then cast them into boiling water, which, after passing through fine strainers, preserves the most oily part of the liquid" to make a thick milk, "as sweet and rich as fresh cream, an ingredient in most of their cookery, especially hominy and corncakes." Years ago a friend and I were served hickory milk in rural Georgia by an eccentric backwoods artist named St. EOM who claimed Creek descent. Despite the unsanitary presentation, the milk was ambrosial--fragrantly nutty, delightfully heavy on the tongue, unlike anything I had encountered before.

I've never heard of this before. Sounds intriguing.

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Best,
Tom

Escape to Missouri

Replies:

Posted By: HistoricFoodie
Date Posted: 06 September 2016 at 20:15

Hey, Tom, good to hear from you.

Nut milks of all kinds were popular among both Native Americans and early settlers. Nowadays only Almond Milk seems to be popular. But that has to do with commercial considerations.

Hickory nuts have a long history of being popular. But for some reason they lost favor with the general populence, to the point where many people, today, think they are inedible.

Interestingly, I've read Bartram's journals of his trips to the Southeast, but don't recall the passage about making hickory milk. But then, again, he covered so much ground it's hard to remember it all.

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But we hae meat and we can eat
And sae the Lord be thanket

Posted By: HistoricFoodie
Date Posted: 06 September 2016 at 20:16

BTW, after processing the hickory nuts for milk, the left-over meat of the nuts would be dried and pounded into a meal.

Nothing went to waste, back in the day.

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But we hae meat and we can eat
And sae the Lord be thanket

Posted By: gonefishin
Date Posted: 07 September 2016 at 06:46

We've got a few different nut milks in our stores, cashew, almond and hazelnut. Having a daughter with a tree nut allergy we just don't bring them in the house. I'll bring them into work once in a while though.

On the subject of Hickory products, Hickory syrup is pretty good too. We've got shagbark hickory trees all over our area. If anyone has them too...it might be a fun project.

Dan

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Enjoy The Food!

Posted By: Tom Kurth
Date Posted: 07 September 2016 at 17:44

Hi guys. Questions abound.

Dan, is hickory syrup made from tree sap like maple syrup or is it a nut product?

Is almond milk made like Hickory milk?

I knew meal from acorns was used as a foodstuff. Wasn't aware of hickory meal. Do I remember right that acorn meal was washed to remove bitterness making the oils, etc. waste?

When do hickory nuts drop? About the same time as pecans, I surmise. I have the impression they are significantly harder to crack than pecans, not so?

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Best,
Tom

Escape to Missouri

Posted By: gonefishin
Date Posted: 09 September 2016 at 09:35

I also thought that Hickory Syrup would be made similar to Maple syrup. But it turns out that it's a steeped tea made from the hickory bark, then sugar is added to make it into a syrup.

I have had it before and it's got a good flavor to it.

Dan

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Enjoy The Food!

Posted By: Boilermaker
Date Posted: 26 January 2018 at 16:11

We have hickory and black walnut trees on our property in Indiana and harvest both hickory nuts and black walnuts. Both are a real pain to shell but hickory nuts are the worst. That said, they have a delicious flavor. We grew up eating hickory pie which is like pecan pie only made with hickory nuts. Sandies are another favorite, a shortbread like cookie made with black walnuts rolled into a ball and then rolled in powdered sugar after baking. That method used by the Indians is interesting and makes a lot sense given how difficult it is to separate the nut from the shell.

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