Big Bear Blogs

We gathered these nuts in the Baldwin Lake Area -East of Big Bear Lake

We live in Baldwin Lake, east of Big Bear Lake. The area is surrounded with beautiful Pinon Trees. The pinon tree is known for it’s pine nuts, a key ingredient in Pesto. We went out and were pleasantly surprised by just how easy it is to collect pine nuts.

According to Wikipedia “The pinyon (or piñon) pine group grows in the southwestern United States and in Mexico. The trees yield edible pinyon nuts, which were a staple of the Native Americans, and are still widely eaten. The fragrance of the wood, especially when burned, is unmistakable.

Here is an article about pine nut collecting from 1960.

The little white pinon nut runs the culinary gamut from being a food staple of the Native Americans, to a delicacy for the gourmet. It is cooperative in its profusion as the pinon trees range through parts of all the western states and are usually masses of little green cones in the fall.

It is only when you go pine nutting yourself and follow the entire process from cone to nut that you really appreciate the little white pine nuts and condone a gourmet store’s high price for the finished product.

About ten miles north of Bishop California and up to 6000 feet in altitude we discovered a veritable forest of the scrubby looking little trees. Spreading tarps beneath them, the men whacked at the branches with long poles having hooks at the ends. Soon there were more little green cones falling down than we could ever use. We packed several burlap bags full, getting ourselves well covered with pitch. Even The Native Americans couldn’t escape. They use grease to get it off. Once home we resorted to dry cleaner.

The cones we collected on that particular day had not been ready to drop so consequently it took more than a week in the sun for them to open up. Once green, fat and sticky, they were now brown with open petals. At the base of each wing of the flat rosettes, there were two brown pine nuts that fell out easily. These were now ready for roasting which we did in a shallow pan in a slow oven. Roasting turns the shell a bit softer so you can crack it in your teeth.

If you really want to be fancy, lay some of the nuts on a soft cloth, cover with another and then The little white pinon nut runs the culinary gamut from being a food staple of the Native Americans, to a delicacy for the gourmet. It is cooperative in its profusion as the pinon trees range through parts of all the western states and are usually masses of little green cones in the fall.

The Paiute Indians follow the procedure with more finesse. They wait until the cones are dropping before they harvest them from the trees. Filling burlap bags, they beat the bags with stout sticks so, when shaken, nuts fall out with opened rosettes. The Indians then roast the entire mass in a charcoal pit with a charcoal fire on top and allow the nuts to roast slowly. When removed and cooled, the mass is put into a winnowing basket, where it is stirred and windblown until nothing is left but the clean brown nuts.

Depending on the pine nuts as a staple food, the Native Americans use them in many ways. Easiest is the soup they make by simply boiling the nuts in water. A popular dish is the pine nut mush made from ground nut meats. The Paiutes have two methods of making this. One is to take a large flat rock and cover it with nuts. Then they grind over them with a smaller flat rock till the nuts are quite fine. The other method was to take a round stone bowl with a very small hole in the bottom. Then with a small pointed rock called “tusu” work the latter around and around through the small bottom hole. In either case before starting the procedure, the tip of each nut has to be broken off because, being of a brownish tinge it colors the resulting mush.

Look for Pinon Trees with pine cones at the top.

After grinding the nut particles are put through a very finely meshed winnowing basket so the final result is like fine flour. This is now mixed with water, the amount used conforming to the consistency desired and the whole kneaded, much like bread dough. The mixture is now ready for consumption. It is often eaten as is. Some however, put it in a bowl, sprinkle with sugar and eat with a spoon.

Other Tribes than the Paiutes probably have their own ways of treating the pine nuts. There is plenty of chance for diversification as the pinon tree is in no danger of dying out. It is the only single leaf pine known and is never knowingly planted. It is too slow a grower to attract gardeners and is not even a very handsome tree. Hardy to many altitudes and types of soil, some trees have been known to live 300 years.

To treat yourself to a delicacy follow in the footsteps of the Native Americans and go on a nutting expedition. It’s fun, good exercise- and cheaper than buying pinon nuts in a gourmet store.

The military inserts a quick commerical and then gives us an amazing video about traditional pine nut gathering.

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