Ancient Grains for Modern Meals - Maria Speck [2]
A generous thank-you also goes to the friendly and helpful staff at Bob’s Red Mill and at the King Arthur Flour Company, who not only shipped boxes of whole grain flours and grains to my door for endless rounds of testing, but also answered many questions along the way. And I’m grateful that I live around the corner from Evergood Market in Cambridge, which is somehow always open when I need one more ingredient for last-minute testing.
This book would not have come to life without the support of my publisher, Ten Speed Press. Three editors accompanied me along the way to bring it to fruition: Melissa Moore, Dawn Yanagihara, and Jenny Wapner, who took over late in the process but nevertheless provided encouragement and positive feedback until the end. Editorial director Julie Bennett provided backing at a crucial moment. I would like to extend a special thank-you to creative director, Nancy Austin, who helped translate my passion to the pages of this book, and to photographer Sara Remington, who teamed with food stylist Katie Christ to fill it with delectable food and the fresh, modern look I believe whole grains deserve. Copy editor Abigail Bok polished my words even further, and I also benefited from the clear-eyed proofreader Jean Blomquist. When I signed my contract with Ten Speed Press, a personal dream came full circle: this was the publisher I always wanted, and little did I know how many turns and twists life would throw my way before I finally could write for them.
While I was working on this book, America’s own Julia Child was often on my mind. She once sat nearby at a conference, surrounded by fans, while I was rather clueless. I learned much about her life later, last but not least when I moved into her Cambridge neighborhood and started shopping at her butcher, Savenor’s Market, which provided meat and fish for this book. Her much-quoted wisdom, “If you’re afraid of butter, use cream” has been an inspiration, reminding me how important good ingredients are to good cooking whenever the health police in the back of my head started screaming.
And to my husband, Alnoor, whose fine palate and unwavering appetite is a food writer’s dream, and who never relented.
“Progress is very important and exciting in everything except food.”
—ANDY WARHOL
POLENTA
INTRODUCTION:
The Glamour of Whole Grains
WHOLE GRAINS HAVE CAST A SPELL ON ME—from the first sweetened wheat berries I chewed on during my grandfather’s funeral to the comforting corn polenta my Greek mother makes to this day. I crave the tender chewiness of brown rice, the soft, translucent pearls of quinoa, and the warming lightness of millet. I love the subtle sweetness of whole oats, the slight sourness of rye, and the pleasing nuttiness of wheat berries. But I don’t eat whole grains because they are healthy, or wholesome, or to reap their nutritional benefits. To me, whole grains carry luxurious qualities: lively textures, vivid colors, and rich flavors.
My passion is rooted in my upbringing. I was raised by a Greek mom, a fervent home cook, and a gluttonous food-loving father from Germany. I spent parts of my childhood in Greece, where my grandmother and my aunt would rise at 4:00 a.m. on holidays to prepare food for the extended family, from elaborately stuffed grape leaves with currants and pine nuts to oven-roasted kid lamb and bulgur pilaf. And I spent my formative years in Germany, where whole grains are part of the culinary fabric to this day, most famously in the country’s rustic loaves of dark bread.
Our family table reflected these two contrasting cultures: my mom’s tomato omelet with feta cheese was served with huge slices of my dad’s favorite whole grain bread, cut from a traditional loaf almost the size of a bicycle tire. One week we indulged on German pork roast with homemade gravy, the next we spooned into tangy Greek stifadho, a wine-infused beef stew. My dad couldn