Welcome to “The Incredible Bulk” — a series we are dedicating to the many splendors of our bulk bin section.  Why dedicate a blog to the seemingly mundane world of bulk foods?  OK…they may not be as sexy as the deli case, but when it comes to whipping up some innovative meals with high nutritional “bang for the buck”, we think the bulk bins should always be a part of your Boise Co-op shopping experience…so on a regular basis we’ll be bringing you stories from those tall plastic silos, along with the insights of the C0-op folks who lovingly tend them.

Awhile back we posted a “Co-op Cognescenti” photo on the Boise Co-op Facebook page of a mystery grain.  It didn’t take long for our followers to identify the photo as “farro” — an ancient grain, also known as “emmer”, that is a primitive relative of wheat.  If you think the term “primitive” seems perjorative, that is most definitely not the case with farro.  But before we sing the praisies of a grain that sounds like it was named for gunslinger in a Zane Grey western, a short history lesson is in order.

Triticum diccocum (say that five times, quickly) was cultivated by the first generations of farmers, long before wheat.  In fact, pre-agrarian peoples gathered emmer as far back as 17,000 years ago.  Like the later ocurring spelt, emmer belongs to the class of hulled grains, which worked against its popularity in North America, especially when compared with wheat.

But what brought the decline in the production of spelt is now thought of as a benefit.  Farro has a tough hull, or husk, that makes it more difficult to process than modern wheat varieties – but that husk, separated just before milling, not only protects the kernel, but also helps retain nutrients and maintains freshness.  While modern wheat has been bred to be easier to grow and harvest, and to have a high gluten content for the production of high volume commercial baked goods, farro has retained many of its original traits and remains highly nutritious and full of flavor.  Also, unlike other grains, farro’s husk protects it from pollutants and insects and usually allows growers to avoid the use of pesticides…an added bonus!

Farro is unusually high in fiber and contains significantly more protein than wheat.  Farro is also higher in B complex vitamins and both simple and complex carbohydrates.  Another important benefit is that some gluten-sensitive people have been able to include farro-based foods in their diets.

Cooking with Farro flour is similar to cooking with wheat flour.  You can make all the same dishes such as pancakes and waffles, muffins, cakes, crackers and cookies, pastas and breads — the good stuff in life.  Because of its lower gluten content, however, you will probably not wish to let it rise as high as regular wheat flour bread.  When baking, Farro flour doesn’t require as much water, so if you are substituting farro flour for wheat flour in your favorite recipe, start by only using 3/4ths as much water.

So…let’s review: a potential wheat replacement for folks with wheat sensitivity…high in protein…contains all eight essential amino acids…high in vitamins…high in complex carbohydrates…high in fiber…great flavor…easily digested.  That’s our kind of primitive, for sure!