Food Ventures
Hickory Heroes
Wisconsin resident Mike Starshak, president/owner of Wisconsin Hickory Syrup, shares tales he's heard from old-timers of the region. I've heard hundreds of stories about "when we were kids we'd go to nana's house at Christmas and Thanksgiving and we'd smash hickory nuts in the basement with a hammer or on an anvil. And oh, it was so much work because then we had to pick those nuts out with a pin but then grandma made the greatest hickory nut cake or hickory nut cookies or pie."
"So," Mike continues, "it's a very consistent story of hard work and reward and this love for that. A lot of people these days would think we're losing that but evidently not with the Wisconsin Hickory Association members."
When Mike, a financial planner, discovered a grove of hickory trees on his property after moving to Wisconsin, he "jumped on the research bandwagon." He discovered that there is evidence of hickory nuts being processed as long as 8,000 years ago in North America. Early native populations ate pecans, a hickory relative and today a $450 million per year industry. According to Mike, Native Americans started using hickory nuts when they were able to crack the hard nuts using the "technological advance of nesting rock-bowls, with an indentation the size and shape of a hickory nut."
Getting the nut out is still done by hand today with no machinery yet available. Hickory nut cracking is becoming a lost art. Despite the difficulty of extraction, rural families still cherish the savory nut and chefs are recognizing hickory nut's attributes.
Amy Trubek's The Art of Eating quotes chef Odessa Piper, founder of Madison, Wisconsin's, L'Etoile farm to table restaurant. "They are the nobility of nuts, what the black truffle is to mushrooms." Shagbark hickory nuts have "more flavor... more snap, more tooth-feel than either pecans or walnuts."
Hickory, in addition to providing food as nutmeats and syrup, is also used for smoking meats, making tools and furniture. Mike worked with the University of Wisconsin Extension Office to obtain grants and establish an organization. Since the first meeting in late summer 2014, the Wisconsin Hickory Association's small dedicated group of about 20 from the Green Lake County area have accomplished much. They have sponsored field trips to resource sites; presented at the 106th. meeting of the Northern Nut Growers Association; applied for and received not-for-profit, 501(c)3 status; demonstrated nut cracking techniques; and organized a fundraiser, the 1st. Annual Hickory Feast.
In late October 2015, the two dozen attendees of the Hickory Feast enjoyed a unique and delectable dining experience with a menu of mixed greens salad with caramelized hickory nuts and hickory-infused dressing; Ogwissimanabo (Tuscarora yellow squash soup); Hickory smoked pork loin with hickory BBQ glaze; hickory syrup-glazed carrots; rolls; baked potato; and a grand finale of hickory nut cake with ice cream; Wisconsin hickory fudge; and hickory-mesquite smoked coffee. Many more such feasts are anticipated in coming years.
The common name hickory comes from the local Algonquin language of the Powhatan tribe of Virginia: "pawcohiccora." Seventeenth-century Virginians called the nuts "pohickery." Some say they taste between a pecan and a walnut which are in the same family. The syrup is not made from the sap as in the sugar maple, but through a process using the bark which the tree sheds naturally. About half a dozen individuals across the country make the syrup.
Syrup and nutmeats may be purchased via Mike's website www.wisconsinhickorysyrup.com. Syrup may also be purchased from President Jefferson's Monticello (www.monticelloshop.org) and the shop at President Washington's Mount Vernon (www.mountvernon.org). Chefs utilize the syrup for grilling glazes, marinades, sauces, and breakfast treats. Julia Child's rib marinade is made with equal parts bourbon and hickory syrup!
Both hickory syrup and maple syrup are for more than just pancakes. The third edition of Ken Haedrich's Maple Syrup Cookbook (Storey publishing) offers over 100 recipes for sweet and savory dishes, salad dressing, relishes, breads, soups, breakfast items and desserts. Cooks can use this book to incorporate maple syrup into recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. In most cases, the recipes can do double duty. Experiment using first maple syrup, then another time use hickory syrup rather than maple.
We've all heard of the hickory stick of one room school lore, and of "Old Hickory" Andrew Jackson, seventh president of the United States. Now Wisconsin Hickory Association members working to preserve and promote the history, culture and tradition of hickory can be thought of as Hickory Heroes. One need not be a Wisconsin resident to join and encourage education about and use of the hickory nut. Wisconsin Hickory Association: www.wihickory.org. Wisconsin Hickory Syrup, LLC: www.wisconsinhickorysyrup.com.
The following recipes are courtesy of the website www.wisconsinhickorysyrup.com where you'll discover many more delicious recipes using hickory syrup and hickory nuts.
Hickory Nut Syrup Barbecue Sauce
3/4 cup hickory syrup
1 cup tomato puree
1 cup onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons garlic, finely chopped or crushed
1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon cumin
1/4 cup water
Dash of salt
Mix all ingredients well in large bowl and pour into medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered on low heat for 15 to 20 minutes. Stores in refrigerator for up to 1 month. Use on your favorite meat.
Hickory Nut Turkey Glaze
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup Triple Sec
2 pints hickory syrup
Baste turkey with glaze every 15 minutes the last hour to get a nice golden brown.
Hickory Nut Steak Glaze
1/2 cup hickory syrup
1/2 cup Jack Daniels or bourbon of choice.
Simmer over low heat until it reduces to 1/2 cup thick consistency. Baste grilling steaks generously.
Hickory Nut Vinaigrette Dressing
1 part ground mustard
Salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 part hickory syrup
1 part vinegar
4 parts oil
Whisk together mustard, salt, pepper, hickory syrup and vinegar. Slowly drizzle in the oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Hickory Nut Cake
Makes 12 - 16 servings. There are many variations of the hickory nut cake recipe. Each rural family seemed to have its own treasured recipe.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour three (9-inch) round cake pans.
1/2 cup butter
1 & 1/2 cups sugar
2 & 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped hickory nuts
5 egg whites, stiffly beaten
Boiled frosting to cover 3-layer cake
Hickory nut filling
Additional hickory nuts for garnish
To prepare cake: In mixing bowl, cream butter. Gradually beat in sugar. Resift flour with baking powder and salt. Add to butter-sugar mixture alternately with milk, to which vanilla has been added. Add nuts and gently fold in stiffly beaten egg whites.
Divide batter evenly among prepared pans. Bake in preheated oven 20 minutes, or until cake tester inserted into center of each layer comes out clean. Let cool in pans on rack 10 minutes, then carefully remove from pans and let cool completely on rack. Run knife around edge of pan to loosen sides and remove from pan.
Hickory Nut Filling
3 cups sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup light cream
1 cup chopped hickory nuts
1 teaspoon corn syrup
To make filling, cook sugar, cream and corn syrup in saucepan over medium to medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until temperature on candy thermometer reaches 238 degrees, or a soft ball is formed when dropped into cold water, about 12 to 15 minutes.
Add butter and let cool. Beat with mixer on high speed until creamy. Stir in nuts. Transfer one cooled cake layer to serving plate, top with half the filling, then another layer, the remaining filling, and finally, the last cake layer.
Boiled Frosting
1 & 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup sweet cream
1/2 cup chopped hickory nuts
1 teaspoon vanilla
Boil sugar and cream together until almost done, then add nut, lump of butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Blend, then let cool, but not set. Pour warm frosting over cake, spreading evenly with back of spoon. Work quickly; frosting will crease as soon as it is firm. If frosting is not beaten long enough, it will run; if beaten too long, it will not be smooth. Frosting beaten too long may be improved by adding a few drops of lemon juice or boiling water. Note: This frosting is soft and has a glossy surface. If decorating the cake with nuts, place nuts on frosting as soon as it is spread.
Ann Hattes has over 25 years experience writing about both travel and food for publications both in the US and internationally. A senior living in Wisconsin, she’s a member of the International Food, Wine and Travel Writers Association and the Midwest Travel Writers Association.