Ancient Grains for Modern Meals - Maria Speck [12]
Millet is a gluten-free grain. It is high in B vitamins, iron, magnesium, and zinc. And while this nutritious staple is derided by many in the West as “bird food,” it is a deliciously mild whole grain, quick-cooking and almost endlessly versatile, much like polenta and couscous.
STEEL-CUT OATS
OATS
Comforting oats are the one whole grain Americans love to eat. Whether in a soothing bowl of warm oatmeal or in a chewy oatmeal cookie, the delicate natural sweetness and appealing texture of oats have wide appeal. The ancient Greeks and Romans, on the other hand, were less excited about the grain. They considered it barbarian fare, good enough only for their animals: Alexander the Great fed oats to his legendary horse, Bucephalus.
Oats are considered a relative latecomer to the human diet. The grain was cultivated in Europe only from about 1000 BC. The plant thrives in moist and cooler weather, which explains its popularity in northern Europe, especially in Scotland but also in parts of Germany, Scandinavia, and Russia (see also “Oats: Sweet and Sturdy”). Scottish haggis combines oatmeal with sheep’s heart, liver, and lungs, packaged in a sheep’s stomach, for a favorite national dish.
In processing oats, the germ and the bran are hardly ever removed. As a result, this whole grain is widely available and can be easily added to your diet. There are different kinds of oatmeal to chose from: precooked instant oats, quick-cooking oats, and old-fashioned rolled oats. I enjoy chewy steel-cut oats for breakfast, and for other meals whole oat berries (groats). Compared to other grains, oats are high in protein and in beneficial fat. If processed correctly, they are gluten-free. And just in case you have always wondered: there are about 26,000 rolled oats in a 500-gram (1.1 pound) package. Start counting!
QUINOA
Nutrient-rich quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wa) was revered by the Incas, who called it chisaya mama, the mother of all grains. In pre-Columbian civilizations in the Andes, it was more important than corn and second only to the potato as a major food crop. The Spanish conquistadors banned its cultivation because of its ceremonial significance among indigenous peoples, but it survived in the wild.
Cultivated at least five thousand years ago, quinoa is another so-called pseudograin. While it has a similar nutritional profile and is eaten like a grain, botanically it is part of the goosefoot family, which includes spinach, chard, and lamb’s quarters. The United Nations has named drought-resistant and undemanding quinoa a “supercrop” for its potential to feed the poor.
Quinoa is gluten-free and has an appealing, faintly grassy sweetness. The seeds contain all the essential amino acids, which makes them an excellent source of protein. They come in a rainbow of colors: black, purple, red, ivory, orange, and yellow. Quinoa seeds are about the size of sesame and have the shape of small disks. More than one hundred varieties of quinoa are grown in the Andes.
WHEN YOU SHOP Quinoa naturally has a bitter-tasting saponin layer around each kernel that protects the grain against insects. Thorough washing removes this bitter residue. However, most quinoa sold in the United States has undergone an abrasion process that also shaves off some of the beneficial bran and germ. Still, quinoa is a nutritious, quick, and delicious dinner staple worth exploring.
RICE
Rice is the staple for about half the world’s population, especially across large parts of Asia, but also in Latin America.
A descendent of a wild grass, rice grows best submerged in water. Until fairly recently it was the accepted view that the Chinese Yangtze River Valley was the birthplace of rice, with cultivation reaching about ten thousand years back. However, in 2003 a handful of burned