Beechnut ✦

Faîne

What it is

Beech oil — huile de faîne — was a household oil across northern France into the nineteenth century, pressed at village mills and valued because it kept for years without turning. The trees mast: a heavy crop perhaps once in five years and near nothing between, so the oil went out of use for want of material rather than want of favour.

In the kitchen

Roast before eating: ten minutes at 150 °C loosens the papery skin and drives off the compound long called fagin, which makes raw beechnuts unpleasant in quantity. Rub them in a cloth while hot — cold, the skins will not come away.

Goes with

Butter Honey Apple Button mushroom Venison Walnut oil Pear

In season alongside

Acorn Artichoke Avola almond Belon flat oyster Bronze bolete Brussels sprout

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