Greetings  friends of the noble wheat… bringing  back flavor and nutrients in good bread goes against the grain of the industrial complex economy which is about  HIGH YIELD, AFFORDABILITY AND CONVENIENCE..

If one is interested in varieties AND GREAT Flavors  of  wheat, as one can be interested in great old varieties and flavors of apples, one has to understand what happened to the heirloom wheats?  Wheats such as Einkhorn, emmer, Kamut and spelt and countless others. Each wheat has its own flavor, its own genetic make up, its own way of acting when mixed into bread.  How to bring these wheats back?

THE  PLOT in this amazing drama thickens and things are getting interesting.

Now  bakers are getting  together with millers, millers with farmers, farmers with plant breeders and geneticists.  They are all working on getting people turned on to tasting the real taste of wheat.. and this requires what many in the baking world refer to a new grain economy.

Dan Barber, a great chef and runs the center for food and agriculture in the Hudson Valley of New York, is currently growing old varieties with the help of plant biologist Stephen Jones.

“This is an agronomic problem.. It is a risky business for farmers.  We need to engage with the wheat plant breeders who can marry that old world genetics and take some of the best qualities of old wheat and improve it  to create a good yield so a farmer can actually make money growing old varieties.. ”

Here is  a fantastic link talking about the history of grain . http://bbc.in/1Ev9Wrd  and here is another link about an amateur baker in Southampton London:

http://www.londonfoodessentials.com/my-london-interviews-andy-forbes-brockwell-bake-association.html