Amazing Grains
Whole grains have an image problem. Since the majority of them get turned into flour (or beer or whiskey), most of us have never seen a rye berry or a grain of barley with its hull still attached. The most important American grain, wheat, is so ubiquitous that we hardly notice it. When we think about whole grains at all, we tend to associate them with the kind of meals that make sybarites weep.
But today more and more small farmers are growing heirloom varieties of wheat, rice and barley, including some grains that were practically on the brink of extinction. Unlike large-scale farmers, who focus their efforts on developing crops that are easy to harvest and resistant to disease, these small growers cultivate grains that have not been hybridized and, thus, deliver singular flavors.
The tiny Kusa Seed Research Foundation in Ojai, California, is one of the nonprofit organizations dedicated to finding and preserving disappearing grains. Lorenz K. Schaller, the self-taught horticulturist behind Kusa (Sanskrit for "sacred grass"), opened his seed bank in 1980 out of a faith in the importance of what he calls folk cereals; today, he's collected more than 2,000 varieties.
But for-profit companies have had an even bigger role in bringing heirloom grains to the attention of chefs and home cooks. Indian Harvest Specialtifoods, a distributor in Bemidji, Minnesota, is one that has made a big difference. Gary Holleman, Indian Harvest's late corporate chef, began his career there in the research and development department at a time when the company was selling wild rice almost exclusively. During the late Eighties he discovered some heirloom beans at an Iowa seed bank called the Seed Savers Exchange, experimented with them in his kitchen and hired several small farmers to grow them. Soon Indian Harvest was in the heirloom bean and grain business too.
Holleman went on to become a key player in several important culinary organizations, including the on-line ChefNet and the nonprofit Chef's Collaborative 2000 (dedicated to promoting sustainable agriculture). As a trendsetter in the food world, he continued to spread the news about heirloom grains. He died last fall, but his cause is very much alive.
The recipes that follow showcase five of the grains Holleman championed. One of them is Kamut (pronounced kah-MOOT), a large-grained and slightly sweet durum wheat. A scant 38 kernels were exhibited as a novelty at a state fair in the Seventies, where they were hyped as a discovery from King Tut's tomb. (In fact, Kamut probably originated in Poland.) A Montana farmer saw the kernels, decided to develop them into a crop and trademarked the name. Kamut is now a staple at health-food stores and for distributors like Indian Harvest.
While Indian Harvest had its first success selling to chefs, Gold Mine Natural Food, a mail-order company in San Diego, initially saw macrobiotic eaters as its clientele. Gold Mine's extensive range of heirloom grains includes red posole--whole corn kernels precooked with lime, then dried. The company also sells four types of quinoa (KEEN-wah)--a grain from the Andes with small, disk-like seeds that is now being cultivated in high-altitude regions of Canada and Colorado.
"By supporting the farmers who provide us with these exceptional heirloom products, you help preserve this diversity for future generations," Gold Mine's catalog says. Like everything else in the heirloom cause, the mission here is as much about values as it is about profits, and the draw for anyone who cooks is the opportunity to eat well and do something good for the world at the same time.
Text by JAMES PETERSON, the author of Vegetables and Fish & Shellfish (both Morrow) and Sauces (John Wiley & Sons). Recipes by MARCIA KIESEL
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