Mechanical removal of the inedible outer husk reveals the sweet tasting Buckwheat seed. This pale kernel is known as a groat. Interestingly, Buckwheat groats have been used as a food source since 1000 B.C. Due to the fact that Buckwheat favors northern climates, it is a traditional food in many parts of Russia and Northern China where the whole grain is known as "Kasha." Brought over by Dutch colonists, Buckwheat was one of the first crops to be cultivated in the United States. Often it is prepared by boiling for eating as a type of hot cereal, or a savory side dish when roasted and seasoned. When roasted, Buckwheat groats can be milled into several granulations (whole, coarse, medium and fine).

While Buckwheat is genetically a fruit, it does have properties that are grain-like in their application. Buckwheat can be milled into a naturally gluten-free flour. Buckwheat does not stand alone as a grain for bread but has been made into noodles (Far East) and pancakes (Northern France).

WARNING: Some companies mix buckwheat flour with wheat flour. Make sure you are purchasing 100 percent buckwheat from an uncontaminated source.

What does this mean? As an energy source, Buckwheat is more nutritious and will provide a feeling of fullness for a longer time than other less complete proteins.

Buckwheat can be rotated successfully because it is such a fast growing crop. The good news is that in the cleaning process the silting of Buckwheat through several types of cleaning screens (blowing, gravity, and weight sorting) removes any other grains or debris. "Fortunately, wheat and other glutinous grains are a very different size and shape than Buckwheat, which is actually triangular. Any glutinous grains, which may rarely be present in Buckwheat are quite easily removed in our cleaning process."3

"Birkett Mill's food products are made with care in a self contained mill dedicated solely to buckwheat grain. No other substances are processed in our buckwheat milling systems... In addition, all buckwheat received from the farm is thoroughly cleaned of foreign matter to maximize the purity of the grain prior to milling... After milling our products are packaged immediately on totally dedicated equipment."4 Finally, The Birkett Mills performs sporadic testing for gluten.

Wolff's and Pocono are The brand names of Birkett Mills Buckwheat products.

Gluten-Free Pure Buckwheat Food Products:

• Larrowe's Instant Pancake Mix
• Pocono Cream of Buckwheat
• Pocono Light and Whole Buckwheat Flour
• Wolff's Kasha
• Wolff's Buckwheat Groats

Minn-Dak Growers Ltd. supplies Buckwheat to the domestic and international food industry. They supply for a primarily wholesale market although the web site does allow for some purchasing of product by the consumer. Minn-Dak claims to contract Buckwheat growers and buys its seeds from them. They maintain a dedicated Buckwheat mill, packaging facility and warehouse for storage. However, the Buckwheat itself may be grown in rotation with wheat or barley.

Bibliography

Korn, Danna; "Wheat-Free Worry-Free: The Art of Happy, Healthy, Gluten-Free Living" Hay House, Inc. Carlsbad, California 2002

Case, Shelley; "Gluten-Free Diet Revised: A Comprehensive Resource Guide" Case Nutrition Consulting, Saskatchewan, Canada 2001

Whelan, Ann "The Basics of Buckwheat" Gluten-Free Living 1999

Phone conversation with Clifford Orr of Birkett Mills

Footnotes

1. Wheat-Free, Worry-Free: The Art of Happy, Healthy, Gluten-Free Living by Danna Korn
2. www.thebirkettmills.com
3. www.wolffskasha.com
4. www.thebirkettmills.com
5. www.wolffskasha.com

The Plant Science Department of the Montana State University discovered that Indian ricegrass is not only high in fiber and protein, but is also gluten-free.

An interesting fact aside to this story is that this grain is being developed with the gluten-free marketplace as its primary demographic.

In 1532 a Spaniard named Francisco Pizzaro and his army arrived in Cuzco, an Incan Stronghold. He was given a bowl of cooked quinoa and exclaimed "Quimera!" ("Fantastic!") The word was mistaken for Quinoa and the mispronunciation remains to this day.

There are over 1800 varieties of Quinoa. Physically small in size, the Quinoa seed "Looks like a cross between a sesame seed and millet."3 It takes some work to enjoy this amazing seed however, as the seeds are covered with a bitter coating of saponin. To be edible, the saponin coating must be removed. Traditionally, the saponin was removed by carefully hand scrubbing the seeds in water before cooking.