A Brief History of Wheat & A Glossary
Our grains are certified organic and traceable back to the grower.
This timeline will most likely change slightly as new information comes out, but hopefully gives the general idea of wheat’s evolution.
Rye isn’t on this timeline, but so far history suggests that it appeared during the Neolithic age in Turkey and again in the Bronze Age (1800-1500 BC), in Europe.
WHEAT CLASSIFICATION
Wheat is wheat, right? It depends. The classification of commercial and commodity wheat is pretty simple. There are legal definitions that wheat must be classified as white, red, hard or soft. In Canada, wheat is also separated by Eastern or Western. The colours usually relate to them being hard or soft. Soft wheat is usually white and grown for cakes, crackers and pastries. With the hard wheats, usually red, used for bread wheat and all-purpose flour.
This system is set up for ease of classification and to ensure the grains meet minimum standards of protein and yield. It has also had the effect of limiting how we perceive wheat, creating a farming monoculture and minimizing our choices in grain selection. How boring!! It leaves out specific varieties, coloured wheats, heritage and so-called “ancient” wheats and really any wheat that is bred for flavour and diversity, and not just yield and protein.
In this glossary, I want to show you the wide world of wheat and small cereals, and spark your curiosity to seek out grains not found on the grocery store shelf. Hopefully bringing you closer to grain as a locally farmed food, like your farmers market tomatoes and squash.
ANATOMY OF WHEAT KERNEL
Bran: Bran is the thin shell on the outside of the grain kernel. When you see a whole kernel, it is the bran that gives it colour. Bran thickness varies, with older varieties having a thicker bran coating. Newer wheats have been bred to have thinner bran that is easily removed during processing. Some breeding programs are now trying to reintroduce a thicker bran for wholegrain milling/baking for a better nutritional profile. Bran is fiber, becomes probiotic when fermented, and contains minerals, B vitamins and contains antioxidants. Bran helps slow down the digestive process of turning starch into glucose (sugar), preventing blood sugar spikes.It also contains the majority of the flavour of the grain.
I use bran as an add in to many of our wholegrain recipes, even bread- check out the Red Fife pan loaf. I make a scald, or I toast it or use it plain. I find spelt bran to be one of the tastiest brans.
Endosperm: This is the stuff white flour dreams are made from. The interior layer of the kernel contains the starchy carbohydrates and protein and some vitamins and minerals. Endosperm contains the proteins that make up gluten. Roller milled white flour is all endosperm. No flavour, but a lot of muscle- giving bakers that open crumb look that is all over instagram.
Germ: The oily inner core of the kernel, loaded with vitamin E, healthy fats and more phytochemicals and antioxidants. It is one the first things that goes rancid in whole grain flour. It also adds a lot of flavour to whole grain flour.
ROLE OF GLUTEN
Gluten: A much maligned protein, it gives us all those crumb shots on instagram. Made up of two proteins, gliadin and glutenin that bind together to create enough strength to give the dough structure during mixing, fermentation and baking, when the CO2 trapped in the crumb begins to expand during the baking process. The gluten is activated by moisture. That is why you can make a no-knead bread, where time takes the place of kneading.
Gliadin: What celiacs react to. Older varieties, especially tetraploid and diploid wheats are higher in gliadin and it is the protein found in rye. Gliadin gives wheat its stickiness and extensibility. Breads made from higher-gliadin-ratio wheats often lack volume and the large air holes, so coveted by artisan bakers. The dough slacks out, tears easily and can be hard to shape. I find that these wheats make up in flavor what they lack in structure.
Glutenin: Modern wheats contain this in abundance. Its elasticity creates an open crumb structure and high volume, even in whole grain form. It is what makes some wheats have better “quality” of gluten, than others.
FLOUR SPECIFICATION TERMS & TYPES
Winter Wheat: Wheat that must be sown in the Fall, sprouts before winter and is dormant in the field. It will complete it’s growing cycle in the Spring and usually harvested early Summer. These wheats are primarily softer and used in cakes and pastries.
Spring Wheat: Wheat that is sown in the early spring, after the last frosts. It is ready at the end of Summer/early Fall. Spring wheats are usually higher in protein than Winter wheats.
Hard: Refers to the protein content of the wheat. Hard wheats are used for bread flours. The kernels themselves are actually hard and usually red to bronze coloured.
Soft: Lower protein wheats that are softer and usually lighter coloured or “white”.
Protein: Made up mostly of glutenin and gliadin, it is used by bakers to figure out what the flour is appropriate for. Usually higher protein wheats are used for bread baking and lower protein ones, for cakes and pastries. In commodity grains, the protein count does correspond to the gluten quality as these flours are blended at the mill and are from wheats that have been bred to specific gluten quality and consistency.
A stumbling block in the adoption of local grain varieties has been that protein levels and gluten quality are not always related. A landrace wheat, like Red Fife, can have protein levels over 16%, but have poor baking qualities. Whereas Red Fife with 12% protein can be amazing for bread. I remember going on a wheat research trip to France and seeing that the wheats had protein levels around 10% and were great for bread baking. This isn’t always the case and with improved selection and breeding, these tasty varieties are becoming more reliable.
The same goes for so-called heritage varieties. Many of them have higher levels of gliadin than bread wheats and high protein levels. Having a high level of gliadin, means the dough will be sticky and stretchy, but not very strong or have a high oven spring and open crumb. So the protein levels are not a great indicator for baking qualities.
Ash Content: The measurement of minerals left in white flour after milling. Usually a low ash content if preferred. Since this is a whole grain book, all these grains have a very high ash content, as the bran and germ are left in the flour. So it is not a useful measure for baking qualities of whole grain flour.
Flours listed as T65 or T85 refer to the mineral content (ash) in the flour, NOT the extraction rate. A good rule of thumb is that the higher the number, the darker the flour. With T150 being a whole grain flour and T45/50 being white flours. This is the French system, but is also used here in North America.
Falling number: This number really decides the value of the crop. It refers to the level of enzymatic activity in the grain and let’s the farmer/miller/baker know if the grain is sprouted. Sprouting destroys the gluten quality of the grain, rendering the grain useless for baking. The falling number is tested by running a small plunger through a slurry of flour and water in a tube and the longer the plunger takes to go through the slurry, the higher the number and the lower the rate of enzymatic activity. If the plunger goes through the tube quickly, then the grain has a high level of alpha-amylase and is sprouted. Alpha-amylase is the enzyme that turns the starch into sugars, to feed the grain embryo (sprout). Grain kernels can sprout in the field, if there is a late season rain right before harvesting. It usually then goes to animal feed. The only grain, where a low falling number is good, is rye.
Sprouting can be controlled and enhance the flavour of the grain (making it sweeter) and still retain the baking quality of the starch and gluten. There are a few mills in the U.S.A that sell sprouted grains that are fine for bread baking. Uncontrolled sprouted grain is great for feeding sourdough starters and can be used in cookies and crackers or any preparation that doesn’t require extended fermentation and leavening.
Malted: Malting is the controlled process of sprouting and toasting the grain. It is primarily used in making alcohol, especially beer. For baking, malted grains add a toasty sweetness and can help with fermentation, depending on how much they are dried and toasted. Malted grains can be used whole or as a flour. We use malted purple barley at the bakery and it smells like Grape-Nuts cereal. I love it! My method for malted barley is all about flavour and not enzyme activation. We toast the barley deeply to get a great flavor, which kills the enzymes.
Sprouted: Grains that have been sprouted have a natural sweetness and a higher level of nutrition than unsprouted. I love sprouted grains in my soakers for rye breads. Sprouted grains can be frozen for later use or kept in the refrigerator for a week or so, before they become slimy.
Toasted: Try toasting your grains before milling or toast the flour. It adds a lovely depth of flavour. Toasted corn kernels make delicious cornmeal and a great scald for breads. We toast barley flour (like Tibetan Tsampa) and it’s delicious in cookies and in our blondies.
Extraction: This is the measurement of how much flour comes out of the mill. Wholegrain/unsifted flour would be 100% extraction rate. One kilo in and one kilo out. White flour has a fairly high extraction rate of about 70-72%. So it would be one kilo in and only about 700gm out, with all of the bran and germ being removed. In North America, there is no legal requirement to list extraction rate or if bran or germ has been added back into the flour. Flours are usually labeled “white” or “wholewheat”. I would love to see some regulation in this area, so people know what they are eating and buying.
GRAIN GLOSSARY:
This is a list of wheats that we use at the bakery and wheats that I am a fangirl of, but aren’t available in Ontario. There are thousands of wheat and grain varieties, so please continue the search, as this is just a glimpse. I hope this list makes people look beyond the simple classifications of hard red versus soft white. Variety is flavour! And biodiversity is our key to growing nutritious food and tackling climate change.
DIPLOID, TETRAPLOID AND HULLED WHEATS:
These terms refer to the number of chromosomes. And can indicate how long the wheat has been around, as the older wheats have fewer chromosomes.
Diploid: Two sets of seven chromosomes. So fourteen total. Einkorn is a diploid and it is a hulled wheat.
Tetraploid: Four sets of seven chromosomes. Most hulled wheats are tetraploids. So is khorosan and durum, which are free-threshing/naked wheats. Emmer is a tetraploid, the descendant of two diploid wild grass and is not free threshing.
Many diploids and tetraploids have hard glumes (an outer covering of the kernel- like a jacket) It is thought that the hard glumes protected against fungal diseases on the stalk and provided protection against pests on the stalk and in storage. They are descendants of wild wheats and belong to a different species than today’s Triticum Aestivum.
Hexaploid: Six sets of seven chromosomes. All triticum aestivum wheats are hexaploid. Also oats and triticale.
Domesticated EINKORN:
Triticum monococcum subsp. monococcum
Einkorn is known as the original wheat and it can still be found growing in the wild in Turkey, Georgia and a few places in the Middle East. In Turkey, you can find it used for bulgur and as boiled wheat berries in salads. Its nutty, buttery flavour makes it delicious. It is a spring wheat and is a diploid wheat, (two sets of 7 chromosomes). Einkorn is the only domesticated diploid wheat.
The western name comes from the German, meaning “one korn(kernel)” as it is a primitive wheat. The kernels of the wheat head go up the stalk, one on top of the other, making a flat, almost 2-dimensional head, unlike the cylindrical heads of other wheats, which have over 30% more kernels per head. Einkorn is higher in nutrition than regular bread wheat, especially in tocopherols and carotenoids, which give it a lovely golden hue.
Unfortunately, the protein is mostly gliadin, which makes for extensible, but not elastic. Einkorn gluten is very weak and it can be tricky to make a free-form hearth loaf, though it works well for a pan loaf.
Einkorn is not a common commercial crop, as the yield is low, it needs to be de-hulled and once hulled, the yield drops by almost a third. It requires a longer growing season than bread wheat, so farmers need to plant it early enough to avoid rain and frost at harvest, but also late enough to avoid frosts at planting. Einkorn is also very slow to emerge, so there can be tremendous weed pressure, if the farmer is not on top of it.
There are a few breeding programs in Germany that are working with Einkorn and I can only hope that they are able to increase the yield enough to make this more popular. They have collected a large diversity of coloured einkorn and different kernel and awn sizes. If they can successfully cross the best of these samples, Einkorn might become more readily available and more financially feasible for the farmer and consumer.
Einkorn is fabulous for non-bread baking. It is so delicious, it might be the only grain you ever want to use. And for people hesitant about whole grain baking, einkorn will make you realize what you have been missing.
Khorasan, aka Kamut:
Triticum turgidum subsp. Polonicum
There is a lot of marketing behind Kamut. It is a trademarked wheat, made famous by Bob Quinn, an organic cereal farmer in the American midwest. It is a khorosan wheat, meaning it originated in areas around Central Asia, Northern Iran and Afghanistan. It is grown as Spring wheat. And like Einkorn, it is higher than bread wheat in many nutrients, like zinc and vitamin E. Like emmer, khorosan is a tetraploid wheat (four copies of its seven chromosomes).
The kernel of khorosan is a lovely translucent gold and can be twice as long as bread wheat. I love using it in my gateau basque and in cookies. I will mix it with red wheats to lighten the colour of the finished item, and make it a golden buttery colour. Also adding a little malted barley flour makes it sing.
The flavour is almost savoury. Not as sweet as Einkorn or Red Fife. More like browned butter, than sweet butter. When ground, it can feel more like a corn meal, as it is a very hard kernel.
Domesticated Emmer
Triticum dicoccum
My personal favourite for baking. Emmer’s spicy grassy flavour really shines through in sweets like biscotti and madeleines.
An older variety of wheat, known as a tetraploid wheat (four copies of its seven chromosomes=28 chromosomes). Emmer is a hulled wheat, therefore it must go through a de-hulling process to remove the glume (husk). Emmer is from the fertile crescent area, with wild emmer most likely originating in Turkey, but this is up for debate. Grains of wild emmer have been found at archaeological sites dating back over 10,000 and one site dating back over 15,000 BC. it seems to have become domesticated around 10,000 BC. There are multiple landrace varieties of this wheat (landrace meaning wheat that has genetically adapted to its specific area over a long natural selection). And it comes in many colours-blue, brown, black and white.
Like most older wheats, emmer is high in gliadin, one of the protein strands that make up gluten. Wheats with a high gliadin component result in stickier doughs and denser crumbs (gliadin gives viscosity and extensibility to a dough- allowing it to rise, but it is the glutenin that gives the dough strength and elasticity). But genetics play a smaller role in gluten quality, than how it is grown. With proper farming and good nitrogen in the soil, the baking quality of emmer can be very good.
In North America it is considered a specialty crop, accounting for less than 1% of wheat grown. It is making a resurgence and is still popular in Italy and Turkey, where it is used in bulghur wheat production. Usually grown as a spring wheat (it can be grown as a winter wheat, too), it has some resistance to stem rust, a common problem in damp areas, such as Ontario, it seems to do well here. Though the yield is significantly lower than modern cultivars (less than half) and due to its excessive height it has poor straw stability and often falls down in the field after heavy rains or wind. So it will most likely remain a specialty crop.
DURUM
Triticum durum
Durum is a tetraploid wheat (4 copies of its 7 chromosomes) and is primarily used for pasta. It is a descendant of emmer but is free-threshing (it does not require de-hulling). It originated in the Mediterranean, around 8,000 years ago. Canada is now the largest producer of durum, with the United States a close second. Traces of durum have been found in Neolithic sites in China and recipes for pasta can be found in ancient Rome and Greek writings.
Durum is mostly produced for semolina. The semolina of durum wheat is the larger pieces of the endosperm, with bits of bran and germ still attached. Also called “middlings”. Its coarse texture is what gives dried pasta its ability to retain its shape while cooking.
Durum is really tasty in lighter Italian style breads- it can add flavour and colour to a basic white loaf, without interfering too much in an open crumb structure. I love it for crackers. In Canada, it grows in the prairies, as Ontario and further east are too damp and durham is very susceptible to fungus and blight.
RIVET WHEAT aka Poulard, English or Cone Wheat
Triticum Turgidum
A long straw free-threshing winter wheat, it is a tetraploid wheat, descended from emmer. From the fertile crescent, it is thought to have arrived in Europe via the Mediterranean. According to www.diversifood.eu, Rivet is frost- tolerant and can handle less fertile soils and outcompete weeds. This is an awned wheat with very sharp barbs on the awn, so it is not predator friendly. It comes in yellow and blue and is used in pasta making. For bread making it is usually mixed with other wheats.
Chris, of Ironwood is currently growing a selection of Rivets, from the U.K.
Spelt
Triticum spelta
We cannot sing the glories of Spelt loud enough. It is delicious, it has fabulous baking qualities for bread, pizza and pastries and a nuttier, sweeter flavour than most winter wheats. Spelt has been around for a long time. It is a hexaploid wheat (six copies of it’s seven chromosomes=42 chromosomes), like regular wheat (Triticum aestivum). Unlike other hexaploid wheats, it must be dehulled before milling. Spelt is a result of a cross between Emmer and a wild goat grass (Aegilops Tauschii) and originated around 8,000 years ago. It is known as an ancient winter wheat.
Like its predecessors, emmer and einkorn, Spelt has a higher gliadin to gluten ratio than bread wheat, even though the two are genetically very similar. So like emmer and einkorn, protein levels are not indicative of baking quality. Spelt crosses freely with bread wheat and in some cases bread wheat has been bred into spelt to improve the straw quality, to prevent lodging.
Grown as a winter wheat, Spelt is ideal for Ontario, as it can handle a late frost and can grow in soil that is too poor for good quality bread wheat. Spelt, once incredibly popular in Europe, fell out of favour once wheat breeding programs increased the yield of bread wheat and as mills became more industrialized and got rid of their dehulling equipment. It has been experiencing a resurgence since the 1980’s, with a revival of landrace varieties, such as Oberkulmer Rotkorn. There are breeding programs in Germany dedicated to spelt improvement, so we can only hope that it travels across the Atlantic and catches on here. There are hundreds of spelt varieties and I cannot wait for more to become available here in Ontario.
HERITAGE VARIETIES
Heritage wheat varieties are endless. With names like Kent Old Hoary, Siberian Spring, Warthog, Hard Red Calcutta, Ladoga, Reward, Defiance, Maris Widgeon and Holdfast you can’t help but want to bake with them and hope the flavour matches the magic of their names.
Amber Wheat
Triticum aestivum
Considered a heritage wheat, this grain from the 1920’s is attributed to Nikolai Vavilov, a famed Russian botanist with an incredible story. He was jailed and murdered by Stalin. He collected hundreds of thousands of plant samples and figured out centers of origins of cultivated plants. It is a gorgeous deep blonde colour with high quality protein and a delicate wheaty flavour.
I was able to use this wheat, when Shelly from Against the Grain was still using it. It made fantastic brioche and palmiers.
Red Fife:
Triticum Aestivum
The Queen of Ontario grains, Red Fife is originally from Eastern Europe (Ukraine, known as Halychanka) and arrived in Ontario in the 1840’s. It is considered a landrace wheat, meaning it more genetic variability than a cultivar, that allows it to adapt to local conditions. As opposed to most wheat cultivars, that are meant to be the same where ever they are grown.
Red Fife belongs to Tritcum Aestivum, a member of the grass family and is a hexaploid wheat: 6 sets of 7 chromosomes, two sets each, from three different species: T. urartu, Aegilops speltoides and Aegilops tauschii.
David Fife is considered the father of Red Fife. Read the story here. It was grown across Canada, until it was replaced by an earlier ripening wheat, named Marquis, a cross between Red Fife and Calcutta. Red Fife is a common genetic parent in many breeding lines, especially in the U.K. It has not been hybridized or developed, so it is still similar to the wheat from the 1840’s. We love it’s distinctive sweet flavour and deep reddish hue. It is grown as a spring wheat here in Ontario, but can be adapted to winter. It is a stunning wheat that grows over a meter tall with a slender tall seed head topped by three awns- the super model of wheats.
Red Fife disappeared after it was replaced by Marquis, but was revived by Sharon Rempel and Marc Loiseau in the late 1980’s. It now mostly grown as a specialty crop by primarily organic farmers here in Ontario and the prairies. The Queen of Ontario grains, Red Fife is originally from Eastern Europe (Ukraine, known as Halychanka) and arrived in Ontario in the 1840’s. It is considered a landrace wheat, meaning it has more genetic variability than a cultivar (plants that are stable generation after generation), that allows it to adapt to local conditions. As opposed to most wheat cultivars, that are meant to be the same wherever they are grown.
Red Fife belongs to Triticum Aestivum, a member of the grass family and is a hexaploid wheat: 6 sets of 7 chromosomes, two sets each, from three different species: T. urartu, Aegilops speltoides and Aegilops tauschii.
Red and White Lammas
Triticum Aestivum
An English soft red winter wheat from the 1600’s. Known as the “King of Wheat”, according to William Ellis in “Modern Husbandman, 1784”. Red Lammas is the earliest wheat recorded in North America. It is still grown by small farmers interested in reviving heritage varieties. According to Brockwell Bake Association in England, growers and breeders of heritage wheat, Red Lammas was the “landrace wheat of England from the Tudor period to the Napoleonic Wars.” Like most heritage wheats, it was gradually replaced by higher yielding wheats. It is still used as a parent in modern wheat breeding. And is part of population wheat combos in the U.K., grown by Andy Forbes of Brockwell Bake.
Rouge de Bordeaux
Triticum Aestivum
This beauty of a hard red winter wheat is grown in Ontario, in the Prairies and all the way down in Texas. It is awnless wheat that can be planted either as a Spring or Winter wheat. I’m thrilled it has such a large geographic range. It is an heirloom French bread wheat. I honestly don’t know if it is still grown in France, but with the resurgence of peasant bakeries who grow and mill their own wheat, it is most likely making a comeback.
I use it in pound cakes, chocolate chip cookies (mixed with Kamut), biscotti and our sourdough sablés. It often has a distinct spicy flavour.
It can achieve a 16% protein, but that doesn’t always correlate to great gluten strength. I find with these older varieties, the protein levels don’t really mean that much, compared to the standardized commodity wheats that are the same year to year. And like other heritage wheat the yield is quite low, making a more expensive grain, but also the low yield is another reason to use all of the grain and not discard the bran.
Sonora Wheat
Triticum aestivum
I was introduced to Sonora wheat by Nan Kohler, of Grist & Toll Mill in Pasadena, California. It is a beardless soft white wheat that is really suitable for any application. It is up there with Einkorn in terms of flavour, but it is much more versatile as it is a hexaploid wheat with enough glutenin to give your baked goods volume and lightness. It has a true rich buttery flavour and a lovely golden hue. She often sources it from Mai Nguyen .
According to Nativeseed.org, Sonora wheat was introduced in the 16th century and was planted by Indigenous groups in the area now known as Sonora, Mexico. Introduced by Spanish missionaries for communion wafers, it was quickly incorporated into Indigenous cuisines and became a cash crop for exporting across the country.
As it is a heritage variety, it is taller than today’s bread wheat. Which can be good for weed control, but also makes it susceptible to lodging (falling over) in bad weather. It is also drought-tolerant, which makes it a great grain for the SW and California.
If you can get your hands on it, do!! I know Grist & Toll ships across the United States.
Turkey Red
Triticum Aestivum
Another delicious hard red winter wheat, similar in flavour to Red Fife. Like Red Fife in Canada, Turkey Red was grown across the US prairies down to Texas in the 1800’s. It is the parent wheat of many modern varieties. It is on the Slow Food Ark of Taste and is now being grown again in Kansas, Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania. And probably other places that I am not yet aware of. I have found it here in Ontario, but not reliably. To me, the flavour is similiar to Red Fife, but heartier, more bran-y.
Wit Wolkering
Triticum Aestivum
A soft white spring wheat, considered a landrace wheat. It is from South Africa and now primarily grown in California by the talented Mai Nguyen, aka Farmer Mai. You can purchase this through Grist & Toll Mill in Pasadena California. It comes from Sonora wheat. It also has a very soft bran, so it looks and acts more like all-purpose flour. It makes fantastic cakes and pastries. Wish it was able to be grown here in Ontario!!
Modern Wheats & Populations:
With mundane names like Skagit 1109 and YQ, the romance is a little tarnished, but the wheats speak for themselves with their yields, genetic diversity and ability to withstand disease and climate instability. As much as I love heritage wheats, it is great to see new landraces created that will increase yield for farmers and retain the flavour and genetic diversity of the older varieties. I would happily bake with these wheats everyday. I think they are the best chance of converting more bakers to wholegrains, as it’s easy to replicate white flour items like croissants and baguettes with these grains. Populations are a mix of different wheat varieties. They will not pollinate each other, but retain their separate identities. This allows for some of the seed to really thrive during differing conditions. Eventually, the mix will be reduced, as some varieties will out perform others, and other seeds will have to be added back in.
Redeemer:
Triticum Aestivum
A hard red winter wheat, bred in Serbia from a cross of two older lines. Not a landrace or a population. Redeemer has found popularity among farmers and bakers in the Northeast of the United States. I source mine from organic farmer, Paul Salanki of Loonsong farm. Paul is a dedicated to growing delicious, high yielding grains that allow him to sell the grains at price point below most heirloom wheats, so it’s great for higher production bakeries that must have consistency and lower cost grains. It has a delicious soft wheaty flavour and is easy to mill. It is rust resistant and also sprout resistant, so it can withstand a late harvest rain and not sprout in the field. I am obsessed. I use it for all my wheat breads, including brioche and for lamination.
Maris Widgeon
Triticum aestivum
A waxy winter wheat, used for thatching roofs back in the UK. It is a slightly orange coloured kernel, and a lovely nutty flavour. It works for bread and I like to mix it with softer grains for cookies and pastries. Developed in the1960’s and the name is from the street the plant breeder lab is located and the name of the family of the neighboring farm. Sounds a lot better than something like KV7-32, or other number and letter sequences used by breeders. This wheat is definitely becoming a favourite with bakers in the UK and is slowly making inroads elsewhere. I source mine from Chris of Ironwood and cannot wait for him to grow out his seed, so I can stay in steady supply.
ORC Wakelyns Population
Triticum Aestivum
A UK bred wheat, by Professor Martin Wolfe. Martin passed away in 2019. He and his wife, Anne were the founders of Wakelyns, a 60 acre farm that championed biodiversity and agroforestry. A true pioneer in alternative and sustainable farming methods.
Now referred to as “YQ” for yield and quality. It consists of a large diverse “population” of different wheats, meaning that all the wheats are genetically different from one another, as opposed to the same pure breeding line, that most modern wheats are. This diversity allows the grain to adapt to differing landscapes and climates. A great way for a farmer to hedge their bets about climate change. This population is considered a modern landrace and is hopefully the face of future wheat breeding. These lines of wheat have been bread for organic farming with low inputs.
This wheat is unique because according to EU law, it is illegal because it is not genetically stable/uniform. The Organic Research Centre of the UK, convinced the EU to allow for a trial period of selling and marketing these diverse populations. We will see what happens.
If you wish to find out more about this fascinating wheat, research Wakelyns Bakery and Henrietta Inman, Kimberly Bell of Small Food Bakery and Hodmedods in Suffolk. Thierr work with this wheat and the fight to get it legalized is so inspiring-amazing stuff.
Skagit 1109
Triticum Aestivum
Another modern population wheat, this one bred by Washington State University’s Bread Lab in the Skagit Valley. It is now being grown at select organic farms in the United States, Australia and by Gilchesters mill and farm in North Umberland, UK. It might be one the wheats that adapts best to climate chaos and still gives bakers the quality and flavour they desire and the yields farmers need to make a profit and it was bred to be grown organically and to be used as a whole grain! This is the future of wheat breeding- whole grain, no chemicals and high yielding under variable conditions.
Climate Blends
Triticum Aestivum/ Secale cereale/ Hordeum vulgare
I wish I could write more about these grains, but they are new to me and I haven’t done any baking with them. These grains are bred in a public university program at WSU, the seed is available to all, as all seeds should be. ABOLISH SEED PATENTS!!
A series of population grains created by the Bread Lab of Washington State University in western Washington. These grains come in a variety of colours and are mostly winter grains. The Bread Lab is doing climate blends for wheats, rye and barley. And really challenging commodity systems that only tolerate a very narrow set of parameters for grains in terms of colour, size and protein levels, etc. These grains will be a game changer in farming, distilling and baking. I’m super excited about it all!!!!
Definitely check out their work on instagram and their website. These are the grains of the future, bread for organic, low input systems and bred to be eaten in whole form. They are not for a commodity system, but a line in the sand against homogeneity and monoculture farming. And they are delicious. I am so grateful to the lab for really helping out on my wholegrain journey and for all the graduate students who have become friends and deep sources of knowledge.
Maslin
Maslin refers to a mix of grains grown in the same field and harvested all together. It usually consists of a wheat grown with other cereals. It’s a form of grain planting that has fallen out of favour as we are all trapped in a commodity system of sameness. I have been lucky enough to use one consisting of a spring wheat, naked spring barley and naked oat, grown by Ironwood organics. He will continue to grow out his small amount of seed to hopefully a couple of acres. The baking quality was outstanding from the strong spring wheat and the oat and barley gave it the flavour it needed and a lovely sweetness. I would love to see more farmers adopt this practice, as these combos can be very climate resilient and disease resistant. Also combining grains, often gives the best flavour and lovely colour.
Perennial Wheats
Maybe the Holy Grail for wheat breeders, the idea of a perennial wheat that is genetically diverse and doesn’t disrupt the soil is ideal for our changing climate. And how great to think a farmer can harvest the same field a few years in a row, without having to re-seed, or till the soil and grow it organically.
Perhaps the best known one is Kernza. Bred by the Land Institute in Kansas, the small grained wheat is being championed by companies like Patagonia. The baking qualities aren’t there, but it has been used in beer and porridge. This is a patented wheat and the farmer must have permission from the Land Institute for growing it.
The Bread Lab, at Washington State University is leading the way in perennial breeding of many cereal grains and their lines are not patented and available to any farmer who is interested. (yay for public breeding programs!!) Salish blue is one of the more established varieties, hopefully commercially available by the mid-2020’s or sooner. A lovely blue wheat, great for bread or pastry. This exciting wheat has been bred to be grown organically, milled as a wholegrain and is disease resistant.
Perennial wheats have established root systems that benefit the soil in a multitude of ways. From being more drought resistant with deep established roots, creating a symbiotic relationship between soil fungi and roots to provide higher nutrient absorption, than plants grown in herbicide laden soil, to being more resilient to climate chaos. Fingers crossed this wheat can live up to the hype.
ALTERNATIVE GRAINS & NON WHEATS
As a baker, I’ve always pushed myself to look beyond wheat. Bread wheat is a relative newcomer and there are so many cultures that utilize and celebrate these different grains, I just knew that we were missing out with our focus on wheat-based artisan bread.
They are often more nutritious than wheat and can thrive in places that wheat cannot. Having these grains and cereals in my kitchen have helped me understand flour as flavour and the importance of diversity in my baking and in the field. I hope that readers will also fall in love with these grains, as much as I have.
Rye
Secale cereale
Grown by Andreas Buschbeck of Buschbeck farms, Chris Wooding of Ironwood organics, Shelley Spruit of Against the Grain Farm, Peter Leahy of Merrylynd Organics in Peterborough, ON
North America is finally having a rye-naissance!
“Rye belongs to the grass family Gramineae and the genus Secale. The most common cultivated species is S. cereale, which is presumed to have evolved from the wild perennial grass of the species S. montanum. Cultivated rye contains seven pairs of chromosomes belonging to a single genome designated by the letter R… Rye cross-pollinates extensively and is, therefore, difficult to maintain genetic purity”. (W. Bushuk, in Encyclopedia of Grain Science, 2004)
Rye moved into Europe from Turkey. There have been traces of rye in Europe dating back to the Bronze Age, but it really did not fully take root until around the 5th century, when the weather turned wetter and chillier, especially in the Northern climes of Germany, Baltic and the Nordic countries, known as the “Rye Belt.”
Known as a “grain of poverty”, due to it’s hardiness and ability to grow in poor and sandy soils, is a great crop for Ontario, with our interminable winter. Planted in the fall, it provides soil cover over winter, helping prevent erosion and protection against winter- tolerant weeds and early spring weeds. Ready by late June/July, well before spring wheat, giving farmers an early income and some security in case the spring crops fail. Once harvested, the stems can be used as hay or if it fails, it provides nitrogen for spring crops, like barley.
There are many varieties of rye, but not even close to wheat’s 20,000 varieties. Some of the better known/interesting varieties are Sangaste from Estonia, known for it’s flavour and larger kernel size and Midsummer/ Stauderrogen/Kaskiruis from Finland/Russia. It’s a rye that is a two year crop. Sown in mid-summer for animal grazing, it will re-sprout during the winter and ready to gather that second spring. Amazing! Because this type of rye grows in clumpy bunches, leaving lots of empty space in between, it is ideal for inter-cropping for a regenerative farming system. I wish farmers were growing this kind of rye here. Supposedly, the taste is incredible and it has better baking qualities. A study from the University of Copenhagen found it to have protein levels between 17-22% and more micro nutrients/anti-oxidants than other grains.
“Rye… is known to be more nutritious than wheat. …Rye is a great source of dietary fiber, phosphorous, magnesium, vitamin B1, and has a ratio of 4:1 magnesium-to-calcium ratio. Due to its high-fiber content, rye can help prevent spikes in blood sugar and is beneficial to those with diabetes. The fiber content of rye has also been shown to reduce the symptoms of those suffering from irritable bowel syndrome. Rye's ability to provide extra soluble and insoluble fiber, as well as increase colonic butyric acid production, can help prevent colon cancer. As it provides water-binding, non-cellulose polysaccharides, rye can promote the sensation of fullness and help normalize bowel function” (Aman, Andersson, Rakha, & Andersson, 2010).
There is also St. John’s rye, which is considered a perennial rye and the farmer can repeatedly cut it for animal fodder in the fall and spring and then harvest the grains in the Fall and get one more green crop for animals before winter. It seems to have about a 5 year life span. And it also contains more fiber than annual rye and has a sweeter flavour. It is recommended to be mixed with other ryes for baking.
Rye “is known to be more nutritious than wheat. …Rye is a great source of dietary fiber, phosphorus, magnesium, vitamin B1, and has a ratio of 4:1 magnesium-to-calcium ratio. Due to its high-fiber content, rye can help prevent spikes in blood sugar and is beneficial to those with diabetes. The fiber content of rye has also been shown to reduce the symptoms of those suffering from irritable bowel syndrome. Rye's ability to provide extra soluble and insoluble fiber, as well as increase colonic butyric acid production, can help prevent colon cancer. As it provides water-binding, non cellulose polysaccharides, rye can promote the sensation of fullness and help normalize bowel function” (Aman, Andersson, Rakha, & Andersson, 2010).
Rye is not a wheat, but does contain gliadin, one of the protein strands that make up gluten. It is gliadin that celiacs react to. Gliadins are important for helping the dough rise, but don’t seem to play a role in dough strength, which is one of the reasons that rye dough is not elastic and comes apart easily. Rye also contains pentosans, which inhibit the formation of gluten. Along with starch, the pentosans bind with water and give rye it’s distinctive viscous quality. This helps explain why rye breads are more often in pans than a free form hearth loaf. We love rye for it’s sticky moist crumb, notes of honey and hay and its assertive tang in German rye bread.
We try to bring in as many varieties as possible- Sangaste, Hazlet and Musketeer are the main single varieties that are available to me. Most of my rye is an unnamed variety grown by Andreas Buschbeck & Peter Leahy.
Buckwheat • Fagopyrum esculentum
Grown by Chris Wooding of Ironwood Organics, in eastern ON
NOT A WHEAT!! NOT A WHEAT!! NOT A WHEAT!! (KEEP REPEATING!) It’s actually a pseudo-cereal, related to rhubarb and sorrel. It is in the knotweed family (Polygonaceae). It is often lumped in with cereals (which are grasses), as it is most often used like a grain due to it’s high starch content. The word is a transliteration from the German: Buchweizen (beechwheat) because of it’s resemblance to the beech nut. In the late Spring, is has delicate pink or white flowers and can have a red stem. Bees love it. Buckwheat honey is a taste not to be missed.
There are three recognized species of buckwheat: common, Tartary and notch-seeded. Buckwheat has pointy triangular hulls that flake off easily and are often ground up in the flour itself. If it is de-hulled before milling, the flour is a light green to creamy tan. If the hulls are mixed in, then it is grey to dark charcoal coloured.
The cultivar, Tartary buckwheat (fagopyrum tataricum) is making a resurgence in North America and parts of Europe. It is popular in Maine, where it is used for making “ployes”, a type of crepe. It never stopped being grown in Tibet or other mountainous parts of Asia. Known as “bitter” buckwheat, it is an essential part of the Yi people, who originate in Eastern Tibet and are now found in Southwest of China. It is also important to the Sherpa people of Nepal, who maintain hundreds of landrace varieties. According to Meiliang Zhou and Yanmin Wu in “Buckwheat Germplasm in the World, 2018” , these grains are “rich in proteins, fats, vitamins...rutin,...other flavonoids that other Gramineae don’t contain... considerable nutritional and medicinal values'' that are worth exploring.
Like rye, buckwheat doesn’t mind a sandy soil. Like barley, it doesn’t need a long season to mature. It is a great rotational crop, as it has high nitrogen levels and is often used as green manure. Buckwheat is a fast maturing crop and can be used as a replacement crop for a failed spring wheat. It has a very low per acre yield and requires a fair amount of work to remove the stems from the seed. If it isn’t cleaned right away, the seeds can take on an off-taste. It is our most expensive grain by far.
I love buckwheat for its deep earthy flavour and its ability to be used in all baked goods, especially cakes and as a scald in breads. It pairs well with other strong flavours, such as coffee, chocolate, ginger and molasses.
With its high nutritional value, genetic diversity, self-pollination and the frost resistance of Tartary buckwheat, this really is a crop of the future and as bakers, we need to start incorporating more buckwheat into what we make. And hope that breeders really explore the potential of these different buckwheats, especially the Tartary cultivar.
There are perennial buckwheats, and a few varieties can be found in North America. But at this point, they are mainly forage crops and don’t produce enough seed to be a useful grain crop. The latin names are: Eriogonum umbellatum, Eriogonum caespitosum, Eriogonum kennedyi, if you are interested in further research.
There are three recognized species of buckwheat: common, Tartary and notch-seeded. Buckwheat has pointy triangular hulls that flake off easily and are often ground up in the flour itself. If it is de-hulled before milling, the flour is a light green to creamy tan. If the hulls are mixed in, then it is grey to dark charcoal coloured.
Like rye, buckwheat doesn’t mind a sandy soil. It is a great rotation crop, as it has high nitrogen levels and if often used as green manure. Buckwheat is a fast maturing crop and can be used a replacement crop for a failed spring wheat. It has a very low per acre yield and requires a fair amount of work to remove the stems from the seed. If it isn’t cleaned right away, the seeds can take on an off-taste. It is our most expensive grain by far.
I love buckwheat for it’s deep earthy flavour and it’s ability to be used in all baked goods, especially cakes and as a scald in breads. It pairs well with other strong flavours, such as coffee, ginger and molasses. We use mostly Japanese buckwheat from Ironwood organics.
Flint Corn • Zea Mays
Grown by Ken Towrie of Ken’s Garlic, Hampton, ON.
At the bakery, we used to use an heirloom Spanish Red flint. It was a lovely red and yellow colour and we milled it in-house for maximum flavour. We used it for ricotta muffins, cornmeal pound cake, in pie crusts and maple corn cookies, along with its pals rye and barley. Sadly, the farmer retired and it took me a while to find another grower of flint corn.
We now use a new variety called “Choices”. The kernels are flatter and wider and a deeper glassy red. I love it. It is from Minnesota, but there is one farmer who grows it here. ANd he also grows a dent corn, called “Henry Moore” from the 1850’s.
Flint corn gets its name from the hard as flint glassy cover that protects the small soft inside. It comes in a range of colours and pattern variations. Flint cobs are long and skinny, as opposed to the stocky stubbiness of dent and the fat sleek cobs of sweet corn. Flint corn is one of six types of maize, the other five are: sweet, dent, popcorn, flour corn and pod. It is usually dried before use, unlike sweet corn. Flint corn has a shorter maturation time, which makes it ideal for our long winters and shorter summers. I just like the idea that corn, a plant native to the Americas, went all the way to Italy and back again. A good reminder that there has been a global food system for a long time.
Dent corn, so named for the little dent in the kernel, is a more floury corn that is most often nixtamalized and used for tortillas. I also use in my baking, but prefer the flint for it’s more cornmeal as opposed to corn flour texture.
Today’s corn is descended from “Balsas Teosinte (Z. mays parviglumis) of southern Mexico in pre-Columbian times more than 6,000 years ago.” (Encyclopedia Britannica: Zea, plant genus, www.britannica.org)
Corn definitely gets a bad rap, as most of it grown in North America is GMO patented seed and goes for processed food,animal feed and ethanol. Corn syrup is another by-product used in processed foods. Luckily, Indigenous farmers and others are bringing back interesting varieties. We need to use more corn and get more farmers to grow it!!
Ethiopian Purple Barley
• Hordeum Vulgare
Grown by Shelley Spruit of Against the Grain Farms in Ottawa, ON
This is a two row hulless (naked) barley with a deep purple hue that adds a pop of colour and flavour to any baked good. We sprout and toast the kernels for use as a soaker in our rye breads (it tastes and smells like Grape Nuts!) and we also grind some of the malted kernels for extra flavour in our malted chocolate chip cookies and other products.
The importance of barley in feeding early societies cannot be under estimated. Like emmer and einkorn, barley has been found at early Neolithic sites and flatbreads made from wild barley have been found at a dig in Jordan dating back 14,000 years. It is considered one of the first domesticated grains. It is a member of the grass family (Gramineae) and is a diploid species with 14 chromosomes.
The two main types of barley are two-row and six-row. The two row one is the main one for malting, as it is has a higher sugar content and lower protein than the 6 row, though some craft breweries do use the 6 row. But barley needs to be used for more than malting and animal feed! We need to bring it back to our plates! Barley is high in nutrients, fiber and beta-glucan, which may help lower cholesterol. Plus it tastes sweet and nutty. Barley grows exceptionally well in Ontario.
We use barley flour in crackers, cookies, pastry crusts……We love it toasted, like Tibetan tsampa, to really bring out flavour. Malt it, roast it, sprout it, grind it, barley is a great tool for increasing flavour in any baked good.
Shelley retired from farming 2022, so I am searching for another barley source. Luckily, I bought lots of barley kernels from her and have given some to other farmers to grow out. Fingers crossed!
Oats • Avena Sativa
Our oats come from A &E Fine Foods and are grown and processed by M. Gaudreau in Quebec
Our only non-Ontario grain, coming from our neighboring province, Quebec. They are thick cut, super-sweet and slightly malty. We throw them in our granola, oatcakes. breads, granola bars and cookies. We grind some to make oat flour for our vegan cookies and toast some for porridge in our breads. Oats are an important crop for regenerative/rotational farmers for it’s ability to prevent soil erosion, attracting beneficial insect diversity such as aphid eating ladybugs and to prevent fertilizer runoff. It can be sown late summer for winter cover and fodder for animals, but for it to be a harvestable crop, it must be sown in the Spring.
Oats are meant to be grown in cooler climes- the yield and weight per kernel is higher and since they have a higher tolerance than wheat for rain and cold, it suits our landscape.