Buckwheat isn’t wheat at all, and even if it were, its flour couldn’t make bread.
Buckwheat groats, known as kasha in eastern Europe and sayraisin in France, are the seeds of the plant Fagopyrurn esculenturn , which is not related to wheat or any other grassy cereal plant.
The generic word groats refers to hulled and cracked grains of any kind, such as wheat, buckwheat, oats, or barley. When the grain happens to be corn, groats morphs into grits.
The name buckwheat comes from the German and Dutch for “beech wheat,” because its edible seeds, shaped like tetrahedra (pyramids with four equal, triangular sides), resemble beechnuts. The seeds can be cracked down into groats or ground to flour and added to wheat flour for making buckwheat pancakes.
But buckwheat flour isn’t good for breadmaking because when wet it forms very little gluten, the elastic protein that traps gas bubbles and gives bread its open structure and chewiness. Wet buckwheat flour is just barely sticky enough for the Japanese to make soba noodles out of it.
Related Posts
-
What is the difference between brown rice flour, white rice flour, and sweet white rice flour?
You'll find that the rice flours are as common to gluten-free baking as wheat flour is to traditional baking. There are subtle differences between these three flours, primarily with respect to baking performance.…
-
How did Buckwheat get its name and Where does the word Buckwheat come from?
This reminds one of the noted comment on oats in Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language (1755): "A grain which in England is commonly fed to horses, but in Scotland supports the people."…
-
What is the Difference between Bleached Flour and Unbleached Flour?
Wheat flour is naturally slightly yellowish because it contains carotenoid pigments, natural yellow and orange compounds found in many fruits, vegetables, and grains. Carrots' famous orange color, carotene, is the mother of them…
-
Where do Graham Bread, Graham Crackers, and Graham Flour Come From?
We take our food fads very seriously in this country, and some continue for many years. Along about 1830, a young Presbyterian minister, Sylvester Graham (1794-1851), an ardent temperance advocate, got the notion…
-
Where does Cornmeal come from and How many different types of Corn Flour are there?
Cornmeal, Cornstarch, Corn Flour, they're all made from that incredibly versatile and internationally esteemed New World grain called corn in the United States and maize, from the Caribbean Taino Indian word rnahiz, almost…
-
Where Does the Mold on Bread Come From?
When bread is old, it develops a furry, green or gray coat called mold. Mold is actually a patch of tiny plants which grow more rapidly than the weeds in your garden. Since…
