Help! I have a question about grain.
Hi all,
As a result of my 9 yr old's interest in ancient Egypt, we're trying to re-create the bread they baked. After one disaster involving whole spelt (the disaster was my mess-up, not the spelt's!), we did a little more research and found that, in addition to my overproofing, we had the wrong grain. What we should be using is emmer wheat, not spelt.
That's all well and good, but the only source I found (I haven't gone online for it yet, that may be next) was a wildly expensive bag of italian farro from my co-op catalog. I ordered it, to the tune of almost $6.00 for a pound, and it arrived last week. Now I'm not so sure about it. The bag says "semi-pearled italian farro," and includes directions for cooking it as a sort pilaf. It sounds yummy, but it ain't bread, and I'm starting to wonder about this semi-pearled stuff. Does anyone know what that means? I'm afraid it's been partially cooked, or roasted, and when ground won't act like plain wheat. I'd hate to waste it if that's the case; I'd rather make the pilaf and try to find plain emmer online.
Any help from all you whole-grainies would be deeply appreciated; I'm working my way slowly towards 100% whole grain, but I'm not there yet!
On another note, I tried the BBA's Anadama bread yesterday, and it was outrageous! I used a mix of spelt and bread flour instead of just bread, but otherwise stuck to his recipe. I highly recommend it!
edh