Many once popular dishes and products for various reasons lose their position and are gradually forgotten. Among them is a turnip, which was replaced by potatoes, rutabaga, which is now remembered only by botanists, and spelled. What is it, many only vaguely suspect.
What exactly is called spelling?
There are several misconceptions associated with this plant and its dish. Most people to the question "Croup spelled - what is it?" They say that this is ordinary barley. The second proposed option is young wheat grains, in a stage called milk-wax ripeness. Both that, and another is not absolutely true. To begin with, it is worthwhile to clarify the word "spelled" that this is a completely independent plant. It was from him that all the varieties of wheat that exist today came. This is a semi-wild (and sometimes wild-growing) cereal with a brittle ear in which the grains are covered with a film. So to the question “Spelled is a kind of what?” we can safely answer that it is wheat, but it is a species, and not a familiar modern plant.
A very long story
There is accurate scientific evidence: even in the Neolithic, one of the key food products was precisely spelled. What is it and how to cook it, they knew in Ancient Egypt, and in no less ancient Babylon. The great ancient writers and scholars mentioned it. Among the famous people who wrote about her, Herodotus, Homer and Theophrastus. Huge acreage occupied for many centuries just spelled. That this is a very valuable culture, gradually understood (and appreciated) European countries. At one time, it was grown in the fields from Transcaucasia to North Africa, including Arabia. In Russia, it was used in the fifth century before the beginning of our era, although the peak of popularity falls on the eighteenth century.
Useful properties of spelled porridge
Why was spelled so demanded? What is this widespread indifference to this particular cereal? First of all, people were attracted by the high nutritional value of the plant. Its grains can contain protein up to 37 percent of the volume. For those who work hard and constantly, this is almost the main property of any food. Spelled was considered a medicinal and dietary product; already modern science has established the causes of such a popular belief. The 18 amino acids found in gluten free grains cannot be obtained from foods of animal origin. Meanwhile, they are extremely necessary for man and cannot be replaced by something else. It is also important that after cooking a pleasant nutty flavor appears, which is famous for porridge-spelled; that this dish is useful for children for growth and development; that it helped sick and weakened people quickly return to normal; that the reduced gluten content makes such porridge useful for allergy sufferers who cannot tolerate gluten. Indeed, a plant with such data should be considered almost magical!
What else was spelled valued for?
For the simplicity of cultivation. She practically did not require leaving, any - even very poor - soils suited her, she easily tolerated a lack of moisture. We can say that the grass grew independently, like weeds. Pests could not destroy crops - spelled is very resistant to them. The weeds could not drown the plantings - wild wheat itself jammed the weeds. When the ears were poured, they did not lose grains, and the stems did not break and did not lie down in heavy rain, or when the wind was close to a hurricane. Diseases to which cultivated plants are prone are not threatened by spelled.
Why was the spelled forgotten?
It would seem that such an unpretentious plant is spelled. What was this supposed to happen so that other wheat varieties would gradually prefer it? One of the first and main factors is low cereal productivity. While it was not required to grow it on an industrial scale, a small amount "at the exit" was compensated by areas of crops and very modest labor costs. However, over the years, sown areas have become more popular, and low yields ceased to satisfy people.
The second, no less important, reason was the difficulty of grinding and the low quality of the obtained flour (after all, the grains are threshed together with scales, and even then with difficulty and not completely). Yet today the main goal of growing wheat is to process it “into dust” and supply it to bakeries, and not to use it in the form of cereals. Therefore, the choice was made in favor of the holoserous varieties, although they require better quality land, are susceptible to disease, suffer from pests, fall from the wind and rain and require additional watering.
How to cook it right?
Usually boiled spelled was made from such grains. That it can be tasty, is assured not only by old sources (including the famous author of the cookbook Pokhlebkin). Those who managed to get cereals somewhere say that the porridge is just wonderful, only you need to know certain tricks. So, half a glass of water, yogurt (or sour milk; some are advised to replace with low-fat kefir) and ordinary milk, plus plus as much as 100 g of butter, are taken in a glass of spelled. It’s for sure - you can’t spoil a spill with oil, as the saying goes. The secret is that the cereal should be soaked, not just in water, but in its mixture with sour. “Sour” it should be at least 4 hours; better left overnight. Then the cereal is washed with cool water, filled with milk (you can, again, combine it with water) and boil over very low heat until the liquid evaporates. Note: porridge will not be boiling. Usually it is considered ready when only one cereal remains - a grain to a grain. But if the fire was too strong, you may need to add water. The finished dish, right in the pan, is wrapped in a towel or an old scarf for about forty minutes. It remains only to add oil - and eat.
Suitable not only for porridge
Contrary to popular belief, spelling was not only a side dish. You can try to cook the first one - the soup from it is very tasty. For 150 g of cereal, take 2 onions and carrots, a leek stem, one and a half tablespoons of butter, 80 ml of cream (preferably fat), two egg yolks, 2 l of the preferred meat broth and greens - this is traditionally parsley, but you can vary it.
Prepared vegetables are finely chopped and stewed, and in the same container with spelled. At this time, the broth is heated, added to the base, and the soup, when it boils, languishes under the lid for an hour and a half. The cream is then whipped with the yolks into a dense, thick foam and added to the pan. A minute and a half (with stirring!), And the fire turns off. Well, the greens - already when serving.
The casserole is also unique. It is made from spelled and cauliflower. Groats are boiled. Some advise her to soak, as for porridge, just in water. Others assure that it is possible to cook this way, only on low heat and for a long time - forty minutes, no less. Cauliflower is processed as usual, that is, leaves are peeled off, heads of cabbage are washed and aged for 10 minutes in cold water. Then the cabbage is divided into separate inflorescences and boiled. I advise when cooking, not just to salt the water, but also to add a little lemon juice. Dried cabbage is placed in a pan (or pan), chopped onion is added there, spelled is placed on top and everything is poured with whipped eggs, a small amount of onion and spices with cottage cheese. 200 degrees will be enough - even for a gas, at least for an electric oven.
Revival of former glory
Let the spelled have long lost its value. That this is a useful and nutritious product, nutritionists do not tire of reminding, believing that it needs to be grown at least for those who need special nutrition. Gradually, the cereal begins to return to the fields. On the lands of Karchaevo-Cherkessia and Dagestan, the plots allotted for it are increasing. The Americans also do not give up spelling, even though they call it spelled. It bears the same name in Europe, from where it is also brought to Russia.