According to legend, Khorasan wheat, sold in the U.S. under the name "kamut," acquired the nickname "Prophet's wheat" because Noah took it on the ark with him. You don't get more ancient than that. These are good times for ancient grains and their ilk—whole grains, old grains, heirloom cereals that have been cultivated with care, all the"superfood"-type productsthat shuffle in and out of the food-media spotlight.
Forget the hype and focus on the food:in grain bowlsand out of 'em, the reason to eat this stuff is that it tastes amazing. (Fine, and it's a lot better for you than plain old processed wheat. But let's not dwell on that.) Here are a few options from around the country that are locally grown or milled and can be procured without ever leaving your house.
Probably originating in the Fertile Crescent, Khorasan wheat arrived in the U.S. in the 1940s via a U.S. airman whoclaimed he found it in a tomb in Egypt(in truth, he may have just bought it at a market). He sent some of the seeds to his father, R.E. Dedman, a Montana farmer, who soon rendered it a successful crop for which he failed to find a market. Another farmer Dedman shared the seeds with, Bob Quinn, tried to sell the Corn Nuts people on a related product—uh, Khorasan Wheat Nuts, I guess—but the Corn Nuts people passed.
In the late '80s Quinn began advertising his strain of Khorasan, which he trademarked as kamut, as a health food. It'sstill available from the fields of Montana today. Compared to modern strains of wheat, kamut is higher in protein and amino acids, and some people who have trouble with gluten have reported having an easier time with it. Sweet and nutty, it pairs well with carrots and pomegranate seeds in this hearty fall salad. (And ground into flour,it makes terrific pasta.)
Middlins are actually the byproduct of the rice-milling process, but they're so good on their own—they're also called rice grits, if that gives you any idea—that a few enterprising rice farmers package and sell them. At 90 years old,Delta Blues Ricecontinues to grow its titular product in the lush soil of the Mississippi Delta; the company, which grows only one strain of rice, sells only four varieties of product—brown rice, white rice, brown rice grits, and white rice grits. Middlins can be cooked up creamy just like grits, stirred into rice pudding, or used in dishes likedirty rice. A few years agoBon Appétitsnagged this deeply satisfying recipe from Ashley Christensen, the chef and owner of Poole's Diner in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Greg and Betsy Johnsman, a farming couple living on Edisto Island, in the South Carolina lowcountry, started milling grits in 2007 to supplement their farm income, and quickly made a name for themselves; today Geechie Boy products are on the menus of fancy restaurants including Husk, chef Sean Brock's place in nearby Charleston. They're milled in a mid-century gristmill that Greg Johnsman restored. You can buy Geechie Boy heirloom Jimmy Red corn grits at a farmstand on Edisto ororder them online; either way, you'll want them with this fried chicken.
I spent about two years trying tocreate a perfect bread. I made a loaf about once every week, and each time I'd tweak some part of the recipe just slightly, hoping for a more open crumb, a crustier crust, or any of the myriad other small yet important features of really great bread. I never quite got it where I wanted it. But I came closest with the loaves I baked withthis Kentucky-milled whole wheat flour, which I came across in aLouisville grocery store. You might use it in place of white flour in this recipe, the most famous perfect bread of the modern era: Jim Lahey's classic no-knead.
Two points to be made about farro. One, it's delicious, a chewy, slightly sweet grain that plays wonderfully with vegetables. Two, it's really easy to cook: you just boil it until it's done.Order it online从蓝鸟粮食农场,一个“plow-to-package”开放ration in Washington State whose "goal is to cultivate and mill the most irresistible, nutrient-rich grain we can, while leaving this land healthier for the next generation."
