The image, above, shows the full beech tree (Fagussylvatica), left, with the young edible leaves, top right.
Leaves and fruit clusters are shown right, middle, and the open
fruit, revealing the beech masts within are shown bottom, right..
| Common Name: Beech |
| Other Names: European beech, Common Beech |
| Scientific Name: Rumex alpinus |
| Family: Fagaceae |
| Range: Europe, including Britain, from Norway south and east to Spain, Greece, W. Russia and the Crimea. |
Physical Characteristics
Fagus sylvatica is a hardy deciduous tree, growing to 30m (100 ft) by 15m (50 ft) in size. It is hardy to zone 5 and is not frost tender. The tree flowers from April to May and seeds ripen from September to October. The flowers are monoecious (either male or female) and both sexes can be found on the same plant. The tree is wind pollinated and the tree is a notable wildlife attractant.
|
| Edible Parts: Young Leaves, Seeds |
 Edibility Rating: 4 
|
 Known Hazards: Though, in general the leaves and masts are safe to eat, there are some reports that when consumed in large quantities, the seeds may be toxic.
|
Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Wild Food guide to Beech along with all the Beech containing recipes presented on this site, with 7 recipes in total.
This is a continuation of an entire series of pages that will, I hope, allow my visitors to better navigate this site. As well as displaying recipes by name, country and region of origin I am now planning a whole series of pages where recipes can be located by meal type and main ingredient. This page gives a listing of all the Cornish recipes added to this site.
These recipes, all contain Beech as a major wild food ingredient.
The beech Fagus sylvatica is one of the forest's most beautiful trees, with leaves that range in colour from lime green in spring to dark green in summer. In autumn the leaves dry-up on the tree and turn a beautiful coppery colour. Indeed, with its coppery garb it is far easier to spot a beech tree late autumn than any other season. It is during this time also that the beech's fruit become ripe. Beech fruit is called a mast (these are shown in the image above, right centre). When mature the masts open to reveal three beech nuts (above right, bottom) that eventually fall to the ground. The nuts themselves are covered in a thin husk which is easy to peel with your fingernail. Inside you will find the white flesh of the nut which is sweet and delicious to eat. Indeed, the beech nut is one of the tastiest of the nuts available to the forager, but they are small and fiddly to handle, so you will need patience to collect any reasonable quantity. However, whole beech masts can also be processed into an oil that can be used for cooking or as a dressing with 500g of masts yielding as much as 80ml of oil.
It should be noted that the very young leaves of the beech tree (above right, top) are also edible and make a delicious addition to any salad. Why not try them in the Hedgerow Salad recipe given below:
[2]. Huxley, A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992
[3]. Tanaka, T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World.
[4]. Lim T.K. Edible Medicinal And Non-Medicinal Plants, Vols 1–8.
[5]. Thomas, G. S. Perennial Garden Plants
[6]. Milner, E. Trees of Britain and Ireland
[7]. Rose, F. & O'Reilly, C. The Wild Flower Key (Revised Edition) – How to identify wild plants, trees and shrubs in Britain and Ireland
[8]. Streeter, D. & Garrard, I. The Wild Flowers of the British Isles
[9]. Clapham, A.R.; Tutin, T.G. & Moore, D.M. Flora of the British Isles
[10]. Phillips, R. Mushrooms
[10]. Phillips, R. Mushrooms
[11]. Jordan, P. & Wheeler, S. The Complete Book of Mushrooms: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Edible Mushrooms
[12]. Bunker, F.; Brodie, J.A.; Maggs, C.A. & Bunker, A. Seaweeds of Britain and Ireland.
[13]. Facciola, S. Cornucopia — A Source Book of Edible Plants
This is a continuation of an entire series of pages that will, I hope, allow my visitors to better navigate this site. As well as displaying recipes by name, country and region of origin I am now planning a whole series of pages where recipes can be located by meal type and main ingredient. This page gives a listing of all the Cornish recipes added to this site.
These recipes, all contain Beech as a major wild food ingredient.
The beech Fagus sylvatica is one of the forest's most beautiful trees, with leaves that range in colour from lime green in spring to dark green in summer. In autumn the leaves dry-up on the tree and turn a beautiful coppery colour. Indeed, with its coppery garb it is far easier to spot a beech tree late autumn than any other season. It is during this time also that the beech's fruit become ripe. Beech fruit is called a mast (these are shown in the image above, right centre). When mature the masts open to reveal three beech nuts (above right, bottom) that eventually fall to the ground. The nuts themselves are covered in a thin husk which is easy to peel with your fingernail. Inside you will find the white flesh of the nut which is sweet and delicious to eat. Indeed, the beech nut is one of the tastiest of the nuts available to the forager, but they are small and fiddly to handle, so you will need patience to collect any reasonable quantity. However, whole beech masts can also be processed into an oil that can be used for cooking or as a dressing with 500g of masts yielding as much as 80ml of oil.
It should be noted that the very young leaves of the beech tree (above right, top) are also edible and make a delicious addition to any salad. Why not try them in the Hedgerow Salad recipe given below:
References:
[1]. David Evans Notes from field observations, tastings and cookery experiments.[2]. Huxley, A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992
[3]. Tanaka, T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World.
[4]. Lim T.K. Edible Medicinal And Non-Medicinal Plants, Vols 1–8.
[5]. Thomas, G. S. Perennial Garden Plants
[6]. Milner, E. Trees of Britain and Ireland
[7]. Rose, F. & O'Reilly, C. The Wild Flower Key (Revised Edition) – How to identify wild plants, trees and shrubs in Britain and Ireland
[8]. Streeter, D. & Garrard, I. The Wild Flowers of the British Isles
[9]. Clapham, A.R.; Tutin, T.G. & Moore, D.M. Flora of the British Isles
[10]. Phillips, R. Mushrooms
[10]. Phillips, R. Mushrooms
[11]. Jordan, P. & Wheeler, S. The Complete Book of Mushrooms: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Edible Mushrooms
[12]. Bunker, F.; Brodie, J.A.; Maggs, C.A. & Bunker, A. Seaweeds of Britain and Ireland.
[13]. Facciola, S. Cornucopia — A Source Book of Edible Plants
The alphabetical list of all Beech recipes on this site follows, (limited to 100 recipes per page). There are 7 recipes in total:
Page 1 of 1
| Beech Mast Oil Origin: Britain | Chickweed Salad Origin: Britain | Tarragon and Beech Mast Vinaigrette Origin: Britain |
| Beech Nut Muffins Origin: Britain | Spring Flower Salad with Dandelion Greens Origin: Britain | |
| Beech-nut Flour Origin: Britain | Springtime Fritters Origin: Ancient |
Page 1 of 1