Einkorn: the mother of wheat

1. Besides wheat and rice, there are so many more grains. Delicious as a variation, for baking bread or to eat with a meal. Einkorn, for example, one of the first grains grown in the world.

1. The first humans got their food by hunting and gathering. So there was fish, game, herbs, tubers, fruit and nuts on the menu and they must have picked some wild grains too. But about 10,000 years ago the menu changed. The first people settled on a permanent site and started farming. Einkorn (triticum monococcum) is one of the first cultivated grains in our history.

Wheat Family

1. The first farmers began to experiment with wild grasses and grains and thus grew new grains. Einkorn was thus one of the varieties that was cultivated on a fairly large scale. However, because the yield was so low, they soon started crossing with other species. This resulted in the bucket of grain, and by further crossbreeding, first spelled and later wheat emerged. Viewed in this way, einkorn is actually the (great) mother of our wheat.

Where can you buy einkorn?

1. Einkorn therefore belongs to the wheat family, just like spelled. It is also very similar to spelled, only the ears and the kernels are much smaller. Einkorn is a strong crop that is resistant to fungi and that does not make many demands on the fertility of the soil. The disadvantage of einkorn is that the yield is quite low, which is why it is hardly grown anymore. Processing is also difficult, because the chaff is fused with the grain. Most einkorn comes from organic farming and is therefore sustainable. In the Netherlands it is hardly or not at all cultivated, usually einkorn is imported from France. You can buy einkorn in health food stores or through web stores. It is mainly sold as whole grain, but sometimes also as flour.

What can you do with it?

1. You can cook the whole grains and eat them, just like you eat rice or quinoa with a hot meal. But you can also use cooked einkorn in a salad, just like you make a couscous salad, for example. You can use the flour for baking bread, pizzas, cookies and pancakes. So you can actually do everything with it, whatever you do with wheat.

Is Einkorn Healthy?

1. Einkorn has a nutritional value comparable to that of spelled and wheat. So it also contains carbohydrates, vegetable protein, B vitamins and minerals. Only the fiber content is a bit higher. Einkorn contains gluten and is therefore not suitable for people with celiac disease. The gluten content is lower than that of 'modern' wheat, so people with a gluten sensitivity can sometimes tolerate einkorn.

2. Einkorn has a nutritional value comparable to that of spelled and wheat. So it also contains carbohydrates, vegetable protein, B vitamins and minerals. Only the fiber content is somewhat higher. Einkorn contains gluten and is therefore not suitable for people with celiac disease. The gluten content is lower than that of 'modern' wheat, so people with a gluten sensitivity can sometimes tolerate einkorn.