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I have just unpacked a box with my seed collection in. I found an envelope with Tiger Nuts written on it.

I have looked them up online, and they seem to be used for carp fishing bait????

Are they edible too?

Some sy
ay they are a healthy option to sweets i think they are blody awfall

http://www.oldestsweetshop.co.uk/tiger-nuts

We used to buy bags of them from the herbalists to chew when I was a kid.

Thanks both 

I'll give them a try next year and see what I make of them.

The link said chewy like coconut. Does it taste of coconut too?

Quite invasive I believe.

I would not say they taste like coconuts..just the mouth feel/texture is like it...but I find them very pleasant to eat, slightly sweet.
But they are hard work to get them cleaned for eating...and if you are successfull with the crop, you get 'millions' small peanut size tubers to eat (and to clean...)
I had some growing in tubs last year...and sadly vine weevils are fond of them too  ..but I still ended up more than needed. I purposely left some in to over winter, to see how hardy they are, but none did survive..so although I've heard them being very invasive 'weeds' in some part of the world, so far no alarms to be raised in Midlands.

Sweet is good

Maybe I'll try them in a pot for the 1st year, incase they get invasive in our wet, cold, wet and cold welsh climate

As a young lad there was a field near us where we used to go and dig them up, brush off the dirt and tuck in!  A shock to the nostalgia gene when on Google map I saw it had been covered with houses!

Cheers,   Tony.

Oh wow! That sounds great. I suppose the nearest free nut we had as kids were hazelnuts.

All the reasons why they aren't so popular in the UK are above. That's because we eat them wrong!

NB. The ones sold for fish bait are the lowest grade.

They are incredibly popular in Spain - because they don't eat them they drink them.

You just put them in the blender with a little water and a little sugar and strain off the liquid - which is like a really nice coconut drink but better (Horchata de Chufas).

If you don't use industrial equipment to squeeze the last drop out then there is quite a bit of flavour left in the flour you've made - and it makes a fantastic addition to home made bread - very moreish.

I find it really annoying that we are so dim about them in this country because it is getting really difficult and really expensive to source them.

They grow like a weed and a realistic price would be similar to sunflower seed - but here they are sold at the price of shelled walnuts.

The one thing you don't want to do is chew them a second too long if you have a cold - you end up with a mouth full of dust - and  it can be a nightmare if you breathe through your mouth - you'll be coughing for hours.

Cheers.

PS. apart from their vitamin and mineral content they have a good oil in them and they can't possibly trigger nut allergies because they aren't a nut or even a seed - they are a tuber.

Ahh. I've had hortchata, so now I know what it is made from :o) I liked the taste, so may well like tiger nuts

Thanks :o)

I remember buying Tigernuts as a kid, a lot were too tough to eat but some were really tasty, it was a bit pot luck what you got. Here's a bit of info on them     http://www.tigernuts.com/tigernut_tigernuts_chufa_chufas.html

Thanks for the link. Looks like they wont really be very happy here in wet, cold Wales,lol

Ask a Zoo keeper.   

Quote from: Vinlander on December 07, 2012, 18:11:27
NB. The ones sold for fish bait are the lowest grade.

Are the unprepared fish bait ones suitable for growing from?