Millet varieties...?
Hi all,
I've just come back from a long shopping trip. I was panicking about finding all the requisites for tomorrow's bake, as I live in Japan, where tastes are somewhat different from those of westerners. Still, I was successful—I even found amaranth and European Anise, eventually!
However, I am now confused about 'millet'. I found at least 6 or 7 different varieties in one store and was wondering which ones are used in Europe and the USA, if anyone can help.
Millet is rather popular in Japan, I would guess, but I only know of it being used west of Tokyo, especially for sweets (eg, 'kibi-dango', which is famous in Okayama.) Apparently, there are at least four different names for this grain in Japanese: Awa, Kibi, Kimi and Hie.
I bought the 'awa' and 'hie' types which look vaguely similar. The 'awa' is golden and a little larger than poppy-seeds; the 'hie' is a tad larger and kind of "drab" in color—whitish-brown. [One available variety of "Kibi" was almost the size of black peppercorns. I didn't think I'd want that in my dough...]
If my information is correct, the "hie" type is also known as "barnyard millet" in some circles. Can anyone enlighten me as to what type is used in bread outside of Japan?
Cheers,
copyu
PS: I want to make the 'seeded sour' NKB featured in a video on 'breadtopia' with quinoa, amaranth, poppy, millet, whole wheat, rye, bread flour...Thanks, copyu
I'd guess you want the "hie". You can also do a yahoo(google) image search to get an idea of what people are eating.
"...There are many varieties of millet, but the four major types are Pearl, which comprises 40% of the world production, Foxtail, Proso, and Finger Millet. Pearl Millet produces the largest seeds and is the variety most commonly used for human consumption..."
http://chetday.com/millet.html
I had no responses before 'bake time' of course and that's OK [I was really pushing my luck...]
I did actually research millet before posting here, but it actually *added* to my confusion. Your response and that VERY useful photo are much appreciated. You're quite correct that the "American" type is closest to the "hie" available in Japan—I can tell, just from the photo, that the grains are about the size of quinoa. Thank you very much for the information.
The results of the bake, using a bit of each type of millet was, in a word, spectacular. I made it again yesterday and it's going near the top of my list for favorite bakes. It's my absolute number one for sourdough-no-knead breads. It might not be to everyone's taste, but I definitely recommend trying it.
Cheers,
copyu
The recipe I used is from 'Breadtopia'. It's a No-Knead Bread variation using wild yeast (sourdough) and quite a large number of ingredients: quinoa, amaranth, millet and poppy seeds are included in the dough. There's a bit of yoghurt mixed with the starter. There's even a little rye flour (30g/1oz) and whole-wheat flour (75g/2.5oz) in there, too!
Even the topping is 'elaborate': amaranth, sesame, poppy, anise and fennel seeds. It's a very flavorful loaf—too much flavor for some people, I would guess—but I enjoyed it enough to make it a few times.
Video here: [scroll down to view]
http://www.breadtopia.com/no-knead-recipe-variations/
Cheers,
copyu
I understand this recipe is a variation of a formula from Nancy Silverton's book, "Breads from the La Brea Bakery". c.