Eating Well - Beaming with Health

The Food We Eat 107
corn as a vegetable, reserving the dried ground flour for
Mexican dishes like tortillas or in the making of polenta.
Other grains include the following:
Triticale is a hybrid of wheat and rye that was developed in
1964. As a plant it thrives on sandy, low-fertility soils and is
resistant to disease. It is high in protein, but seldom seen.
Triticale contains gluten.
Amaranth was the staple grain of the Aztec people. Cultivation
was banned in 1519 by the invading Spaniards in a
devastating example of economic imperialism.
Millet is still the major grain of northern China. We call it
birdseed. It is quick to cook but fairly bland.
Buckwheat is not, botanically, a grain but for all intents and
purposes is treated as one. A member of the rhubarb and
sorrel family, buckwheat has a distinctive nutty flavour.
Although it does not contain gluten, buckwheat flour is often
used to thicken soups and sauces. In Russia, the whole grain
is cooked, called kasha and eaten as a side dish to the main
meal. A northern European Jewish delicacy are blintz (or
blinis), little pancakes made from buckwheat flour, wrapped
around fruit and cream. The Japanese created soba noodles
from buckwheat flour.
Breakfast cereals
Apart from bread and pastry, the most common form
in which we consume grain is in breakfast cereals. The
first breakfast cereal would have been a humble gruel
or porridge. However, since early this century breakfast
cereals have become crisp, coloured, sugared and
heavily advertised.
W1th the exception of one or two, breakfast cereals
are a waste of time, money and nutritional space. The
majority contain sugar, some as high as 44 per cent.