Pop Quiz: 1. The develop-
ment of civilization began ____ years ago in the Middle
East, when people discovered it was possible to cultivate and harvest ___________. 2. __________
are grown on more than half the arable land on earth. 3. Almost half of the
____________ crop in America is used for brewing beer. 4. The ability to grow
enough ___________ to feed its population is the barometer of a nation’s
viability.
If you answered “10,000,” “grains,” “grains,” “barley,” and
“grains,” then you are very knowledgeable about the Newest In Thing. Haven’t you noticed the change in restaurant side dishes in the past couple
of years? What was almost always potatoes or the occasional ho-hum rice pilaf
has become risotto, polenta and grits, couscous, bulgur, quinoa, barley, and
amaranth. Grains are not just boring, high-fiber dishes in vegetarian
restaurants or fillers in the bulk bins at health food stores. Interesting,
tasty, and healthy grain dishes have moved right out into the center of the
plate.
There are two prominent reasons for this change, and they
are
closely connected. First, the average American consumer has become more health
conscious in the past few years. The recent popularity of the healthy cuisines
of the Mediterranean rim, with their reliance on grain dishes, is reason number
two. Regular publicity about the incredibly low incidence of heart disease and
increased longevity of peoples in the Mediterranean rim has made the American
public more curious about eating grains.
Not all the “new” grains are Mediterranean in origin, of
course. Corn, quinoa, and amaranth were all staples of ancient New World
cultures, with the last two returning to prominence only in recent years. Known
as the Incan “supergrain,” quinoa comes closer than any other food to providing
all the nutritional elements needed to sustain life. Though it is really the
fruit of an herb, quinoa falls into the grain category and can be purchased in
both flour and whole-grain forms. It’s a good wheat substitute for allergy
sufferers because it’s gluten-free.
The Spanish conquerors of Mexico did their best to destroy
the Aztec amaranth crop, which was believed to have mystical powers to produce
a race of warriors that could not be vanquished. Cortez’s obliteration of
amaranth is considered by many historians to mark the end of the Aztec empire.
However, the truly amazing power of amaranth is the fact that it sprouts
indefinitely. Seeds recovered from thousand-year-old Aztec ruins have set down
roots in this country. The Greek root for “amaranth” means “immortal,” and the
resurgence of high-protein grain would seem to indicate that Cortez was
ultimately the one who was vanquished. An all-purpose grain, amaranth can be
milled into flour, made into pasta or breakfast cereal, and even popped like
corn.
Imagine the surprise of most
Southerners when they are first served an elegant polenta dish
in an Italian restaurant only to discover they are basically eating
grits! But why should we be surprised that the cornmeal mush that has
always been the comfort food of the American South would comfort Italians
equally as well? Various polenta dishes can be found on Austin restaurant
tables, from fried polenta sticks with fresh tomato sauces to the serving of
creamy polenta in a pool of red pepper coulis that I fell in love with the
first time I ate at Louie’s 106.
If you’re trying to make good polenta at home, remember
these
tips from cooking teacher Joanne Weir’s excellent From Tapas to Meze
(Crown, $27.50 hard). She suggests the following: Use a ratio of four cups
of water to one cup polenta and cook in a very heavy pot. Bring salted water to
a boil and stir or whisk with one hand as you pour the grain into the pot in a
steady stream. Once the mixture boils, reduce heat and stir periodically with a
wooden spoon until the polenta thickens to the point that the spoon will stand
alone. Mangia, y’all.
I owe my introduction to cooking grains to the late Bert
Greene, food writer, cookbook author, raconteur, and all-around great guy.
The Grains Cookbook (Workman, $25 hard), published after his death,
inspired me to try grain dishes I’d never heard of and many that I had
previously considered boring health-food fare. All his books are wonderful in
that way; his love for cooking is infectious and his avuncular style just
invites you right into the kitchen. I tried kasha, bulgur, millet, quinoa, and
amaranth on Bert’s recommendation. If you are looking for new and delicious
ways to get grain dishes on to your family table, The Grains Cookbook is a wonderful place to start.
While most of the barley grown in this country ends up in beer or livestock feed and
most of the millet crop is still fed to birds, there are plenty of recipes that
will bring them both to your table. Most of the barley eaten in this country is
pearl barley, the hulled and polished endosperm of the grain. While the
refining process robs barley of some of its nutritional value, a cup of cooked
pearl barley will provide you with the same amount of nutrition as a glass of
milk with a ration of niacin, thiamin, and potassium thrown in for good
measure. Pearl barley makes a good pantry staple that will keep several months
in an airtight container.
Until recently, the only people of my acquaintance who
actually cooked millet were two friends who cook it for their pets. It just
isn’t all that well-known or popular in Western diets, but it is a vital crop
in China, Africa, and India. The research for this article turned up so much
millet information that I was inspired to try it myself with pleasant results.
The good news is that millet is rich in phosphorous, iron, calcium, riboflavin,
niacin, and the amino acid lysine, a necessary element for the immune system of
the human body.
Bulgur wheat is not an entirely new grain to the American
palate. For many years now, variations on tabbouleh, a Middle Eastern
grain dish with scallions, mint, and tomatoes, have been popular in delis and
health food stores. My current favorite bulgur dish is the bulgur wheat with
vegetables served at Ararat, a satisfying dish for vegetarians and meat-eaters
alike.
Couscous, while primarily a Middle Eastern and Mediterranean dish, is showing up in local
restaurants. Recently, the most complete dining experience I’ve had in Austin
this year featured couscous as a side dish with a perfectly cooked lamb loin at
Jeffrey’s. The couscous controversy I’ve found in cookbooks and magazines of
late deals with the relative merits of regular couscous, which requires a
lengthy steaming process, as opposed to instant couscous, which can be
reconstituted very quickly in boiling stock or water. I’ve come to depend on
couscous plain as a side dish, tossed with marinated vegetables in a cold salad
or cooked with vegetables in a casserole. I’ll have to admit that, expert
opinion notwithstanding, I always go the instant route.
Italian food may not be the first cuisine that comes to mind
when the subject turns to rice, but Italians love their risottos made only with
short-grain Arborio rice. According to a menu for Casiraghi’s Italian
restaurant from the Austin History Center, risotto dishes are not really new to
Austin restaurants. From what I’ve read and heard, during the Fifties, Sixties,
and early Seventies, the Casiraghis served excellent Italian food in the
Clarksville building that was demolished to make way for MoPac. The menu I read
leads me to believe that Casiraghi’s could hold its own with our current crop
of Italian eateries. One of the best local versions of risotto can be sampled
at Sfuzzi, where chef Louis Halfant serves the perfectly cooked Arborio rice
with shavings of parmesan cheese.
If, with several months of murderously hot weather ahead,
the
idea of great-tasting, nutritious meals that can be prepared on top of the
stove appeals to you, there are plenty of good cookbooks to show you the way to
satisfying grain cookery. My personal favorite is the afore-mentioned The
Grains Cookbook, but I am also partial to The Versatile Grain and the
Elegant Bean by Sheryl and Mel London (Simon & Schuster, $27.50 hard)
and both of Paula Wolfert’s Mediterranean cookbooks, notably the award-winning
Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean (Harper/Collins, $30 hard).n
This article appears in June 2 • 1995 and June 2 • 1995 (Cover).