Abstract
The CNR-IGV, over the last 15 years, has organized and performed expeditions aimed at collecting germplasm and local knowledge on plants used by local populations in isolated areas, such as geographical islands, or local communities that for ethnic or cultural reasons have maintained to a certain degree their isolation from surrounding populations (cultural islands). In two such cultural islands (Bovesia, Calabria region, south-west mainland Italy, and Ogliastra, Sardinia island, Italy) a tradition regarding the use of acorns for preparing a cake was recorded. In Ogliastra, an elder lady still retains the knowledge regarding the collections, maintenance and utilization of acorns for preparing a cake, a knowledge once common and now quite completely disappeared. The present paper reports on the culture associated to acorn used as a food for humans.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Leather was sold for shipping abroad, and when in 1649 the nearby harbor was closed by order of the Viceroy, Comte d’Ognatte, to prevent smuggling, the people of Tricase felt in poverty and were forced to farming. They specialized in growing zucchini squashes, so the villagers became known as ‘cucuzzari’, meaning ‘squash growers’.
References
Adamovic L (1933) Die pflanzengeographische Stellung und Gliederung Italiens. (in German). Gustav Fischer, Jena
Atzei AD (2003) Le piante nella tradizione popolare della Sardegna. Delfino C (ed), Sassari
Caneva G, Pontrandolfi MA, Fascetti S (1997) Le piante alimentari spontanee della Basilicata. Consiglio Regionale di Basilicata, Ufficio Stampa (ed)
Chung KT, Wong TY, Wei CI, Huang YW, Lin Y (1998) Tannins and human health: a review. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 38:421–464
Clarke CB (1977) Edible and useful plants of California. University of California Press, Berkeley
Davidson A (2006) The Oxford companion to food, 2nd edn. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK
Di Corato R (1979) 928 frutti e verdure d’Italia. Sonzogno, Milano
Donkin RA (1980) Manna: an historical geography. Dr. W. Junk Publishers, The Hague
Facciola S (1998) Cornucopia II. A source book of edible plants. Kampong Pub, Vista
FAO/WHO/UNU (1985) Energy and protein requirements. Report of a joint FAO/WHO/UNU expert consultation, Technical report series no. 724, World Health Organization, Geneva
Forte V (1982). Frutti rari e curiosi d’Italia. Edagricole (ed), Bologna
Guarrera PA (1994). Il patrimonio etnobotanico del Lazio. Le piante del Lazio nell’uso terapeutico, alimentare, domestico, religioso e magico. Etnobotanica laziale e della media penisola italiana a confronto. Regione Lazio, Assess. Cult. e Dip. Biol. Veg. Univ. ‘La Sapienza’, Roma
Guarrera PM (2006). Usi e tradizioni della flora italiana. Medicina popolare ed etnobotanica. Aracne (ed), Roma
Hammer K, Knüpffer H, Laghetti G, Perrino P (1992) Seeds from the past. A catalogue of crop germplasm in South Italy and Sicily. Germplasm Institute of C.N.R. (ed), Bari, Italy, pp. II + 173
Haws JA (2004) An Iberian perspective on upper Paleolithic plant consumption. Promontoria 2:49–106
Homma G (1991) The folk art of Japanese country cooking. North Atlantic Books, Berkeley
Jaynes RA (1979) Nut tree culture in North America. The Northern Nut Growers Association Inc, Hamden
Laghetti G, Pignone D, Cifarelli S, Martignano F, Falco V, Traclò BRG, Hammer K (2008) Agricultural biodiversity in Grecìa and Bovesìa, the two Griko-speaking areas in Italy. Plant Genet Resour Newsl 156:43–49
Maccioni S, Tomei PE, Rizzo A (1994–1995). L’uso medicinale delle specie vegetali selvatiche e coltivate nella tradizione popolare della bassa Val di Magra. Memorie dell’Accademia Lunigianese di Scienze ‘Giovanni Capellini’, Scienze storiche e morali, LXIV–LXV: 389–435
Mearelli F, Tardelli C (1995) Maremma mediterranea. Erboristeria domani, luglio-agosto 1995:45–57
Özcan T (2006) Total protein and amino acid compositions in the acorns of Turkish Quercus L. taxa. Genet Resour Crop Evol 53:419–429
Pedrotti G, Bertoldi V (1930). Nomi dialettali delle piante indigene del Trentino e della Ladinia dolomitica. Presi in esame dal punto di vista della botanica, della linguistica e del folklore. Monauni G (ed), Trento
Pieroni A (2000) Medicinal plants and food medicines in the folk traditions of the upper Lucca Province, Italy. J Ethnopharmacol 70:235–273
Pignatti S (1982) Flora d’Italia. Edagricole (ed), Bologna, p. 119
Pignone D, Hammer K, Gladis T, Perrino P (1997) Collecting in southern Sardinia (Italy), 1995. Plant Genet Resour Newsl 109:7–10
Sella A (1992). Flora popolare biellese. Nomi dialettali, tradizioni e usi locali. Collana della Fondazione Sella, Dell’Orso (ed), Alessandria, 1992
Toshio M (2006) The Jomon people and the Acorn. Foods Food Ingred J Jpn 211:546–554 (in Japanese, English abstract)
Usai A (1969) Acorn bread and geophagy in Sardinia. Editrice Sarda Fratelli Fossataro, Cagliari
Acknowledgments
The authors are indebted to the mayor of Urzulei, Dr. Giuseppe Mesina, for introducing DP to the elder lady still preparing the acorn cake, and to that lady herself for accepting showing her skills in preparing the acorn cake. DP expresses his personal gratitude to Dr. Mario Pirastu, Director of the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the CNR, for advice and profound knowledge on the genetics of Ogliastra human populations.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pignone, D., Laghetti, G. On sweet acorn (Quercus spp.) cake tradition in Italian cultural and ethnic islands. Genet Resour Crop Evol 57, 1261–1266 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-010-9625-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-010-9625-x