Pleasures from Pines
Pine needle gifts
Pine tree gifts
It's February and a bit bleak. There are some greens to be found: the start of garlic mustard, cleavers, some nettles and the omnipresent bittercress. The true bounty of spring is yet to happen though so I thought that maybe a sweet, vitamin C rich treat from an evergreen tree might be welcome.
Pines in Britain
The only truly native pine in our islands is the Scots Pine, Pinus sylvestris, iconic tree of northern Scotland but also found scattered all across the land. Scots pines spread across the British Isles following the last glaciation. Pollen records show that pine was present in southern England by 9,000 years ago. It had spread as far north as the Lake District and North Pennines by 500 years later. Early human settlers used pine pitch as glue for making arrows and spears. Wood in the archaeological record so far back is rare but it is likely they used pine wood for all sorts of ways. They certainly used it as firewood as datable charcoal remains have been found in hearths across Europe and Britain.
Of course the other species of pine found here are many but all have some key characteristics that will help identify them.
- Pine needles are longish, pointed, and between 2-5 needles will come from a single point on the stem.
- Pine cones are hard and woody with larger scales than Spruce.
- Clusters of male cones produce vast amounts of pollen on lower branches in spring.
If the needles are short and stubby and don't start at a single point per group you've found another conifer which may be poisonous so please check carefully before you consume. The good news is that any species of pine is safe to use in the ways suggested here.
Pine Needle Tea
This warming drink is rich in vitamin C, so much so that in 1536 the scurvy ridden crew of the explorer Jacques Cartier's ship on what became Canada's east coast were cured when given it by the local Iroquois.
You will need:
2 tablespoons of pine needles
1 mug of boiled, still hot, water
Honey to your taste.
Gather unblemished pine needles from a tree and wash them in cold water.
Cut the needles into lengths that will fit in your tea infuser and remove the brown scale where they were joined to the branch.
Place the pine needles in a tea infuser and place in mug.
Pine needle shortbread
This is a modern teatime delight. The pine needles need to be washed, dried and processed or the shortbread is spikey.
Ingredients
1 tbsp pine needles
40g golden caster sugar
100g butter or equivalent
ΒΌ tsp salt
165g plain flour
Method
Preheat oven to 180 deg C
If you have an electric coffee grinder, wipe clean of coffee beans. Chop the pine needles to fit in the grinder and grind until shredded fine.
If you don't have a coffee grinder, put the roughly chopped pine needles and the flour in a food processor to process. The flour gives bulk in the food processor, without it the pine needles just fly about and stay whole.
Mix the food processed flour and pine needles or the ground up pine needles to the flour then add the sugar and the butter. Rub the butter into the other ingredients to make crumbs that will stick together if pressed into a ball of dough. If your mixture is too dry add a little drop of milk.
Dust your worktop with flour and roll to pound coin thickness. Cut shapes as desired.
Place the shapes on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Bake for 10-15 minutes. It's easy to over cook these. If they're firm on the outside and hold their shape they're done enough and will finish stiffening up on a cooling rack.