The term “ancient grains” has been the buzzword on food blogs, in magazines and on grocery labels for the past several years. It all began with quinoa which is now almost as ubiquitous as oatmeal. I have seen lists of the five ancients grains, the seven ancient grains, the 10 ancient grains and the 12 ancient grains, so there seems to be no authorized consensus.
What all the grains have in common is that they have been grown for centuries without being hybridized. They are the same today as they were when the Roman soldiers ate them while invading Egypt. Quinoa is thought to be over 5,000 years old. During the next few weeks I’m going to take a look at the more popular and easiest to find grains. While they may not all be available locally (but please check our stores first), they can be found in larger cities or sourced online.
While I like quinoa and will have some recipes about it soon, my favorite grain is farro (or faro). And as I researched for background info on farro I found out one probable reason the lists may vary. According to Wikipedia, the word farro is an ethnobotanical term and is Italian. It includes a group of three wheat species — spelt, emmer and einkorn (some lists have each of these wheat varieties and some just list farro). In Italy, einkorn is known as farro piccolo, emmer is farro medio and spelt is farro grande. Most of what is sold in the U.S. is emmer.
You can buy farro in three styles: whole, pearled or semi-pearled. The whole grain is the most nutritious (fiber, vitamin B3 and zinc), but must be soaked overnight. Pearled has all of the outer bran removed, and semi-pearled has just some of it removed. I prefer the semi-pearled. The taste is a little chewy and nutty and some say it has a hint of cinnamon flavor. Follow the directions on the package and be sure to add plenty of salt to the water. I don’t measure anything and just put what I want into boiling salted water. Then I check it in 20 minutes to see if it’s done.
Use farro as a simple side dish to replace rice, or doll it up with other ingredients as the recipes below do.
CAPRESE DI FARRO
Makes 4 servings
1 pound farro
10 ounces organic cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 (5-ounce) ball fresh mozzarella, chopped
1 handful fresh basil leaves, torn
2 ounces pitted kalamata olives
Extra-virgin olive oil, for serving
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
(Source: cookingchannelTV.com)
FARRO PILAF
Makes 6 servings
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 large shallot, finely chopped, about 1/4 cup
1 small garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 cups farro
2 1/4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste
1/2 cup coarsely chopped toasted almonds (or pinenuts)
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 cup Italian parsley leaves, chopped
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped
(Source: tastefood.com)
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.