Our fields
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In our fields we grow cereals and herbs for medicinal purposes. |
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The main factors limiting our choice of crops are the
obvious presence of clay and calcium in our land, and the impossibility
of irrigating it. We mainly grow autumn cereals – wheat, barley
and spelt – in rotation with medicinal herbs and meadow grasses.
These intrinsic limitations still allow us to practice an agriculture
that has minimal environmental impact, leaving our land healthy and
relatively unpolluted.
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The wheat we harvest is used to prepare bread and pasta.
Our barley is the basis of our animal feed. The best of it, in pearled
form, is used in soups and for the preparation of barley ‘risotto’.
Our spelt and monococcus wheat are used in bread and cooked like the
barley.
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MONOCOCCUS
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Like spelt, monococcus is an ancient strain of wheat
that appeared in its wild form about 13,000 years ago, growing in a
wide mountain area known as the ‘fertile crescent’. When early
humans settled and began agricultural production, monococcus became
established as a significant part of their diet. Subsequently, the selection
of more profitable strains of wheat led to its almost complete neglect,
so that it returned to growing wild across its vast zone of origin in
Iran, Iraq and the Lebanon.
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The new interest in this ancestor of modern wheat is linked to its good qualities as food and to the cheapness and sustainability of the techniques involved in its production. However, its practical value, well worth emphasising, is in the speed and ease with which delicious dishes can be made from it. It is a good addition to soups, in which it swells up rather like pearl barley. It can also be used in ‘risottos’, and prepared in this way each grain remains small, tender and distinct. Monococcus is eminently suitable for organic production. It has a high protein content of 18% on average, rising to a high point of 24%, and a high level of carotenoids, which play an important role in cellular functioning and are effective anti-oxidants. Monococcus flour is naturally yellow. |
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