November 13, 2015 - 4:09pm
What is Wheat?
Are all grasses essentially Wheat?
Are barley, rye, kamut and spelt all grasses (I suppose they must be), and are therefore Wheat?
Is rice a grass, and if so, is it a Wheat?
Are there any other usefull (to human nutrition and thus, baking) grasses or Wheats not mentioned?
Thanks in advance,
dobie
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another but not all grasses are grains like crab grass and the smoking kind-)
dbm
Good point. Leads to my next question.
Aside from the smoking kind, fundamentally, aren't all grass seeds a grain and aren't all grains from grass? It just seems that some are not particularly usefull (regarding human nutrition and yields per acre)?
I think when you say 'cereal' you are on to something. It sort of implies that it is a 'significant to nutrition' grass grain?
I'm just trying to get to the fundamental root of grass/grain/wheat. There might be basic distinctions that I just don't understand.
Also, is rice just another grass that produces grain and therefore is a form of wheat? I've never heard of rice referred to as 'wheat', but I don't know.
What makes wheat , 'Wheat' as compared to other grass grains/seeds, I guess is the question.
Thank you for the response. I am building a sprouted crabgrass/fescue dough as we speak (just kidding).
I'm sorry this is so discombobulated. My mind is spinning about fundamentals.
dobie
barley, rye and rice aren't.
There's a vast array of different forms of wheat: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheat_taxonomy and many other grasses which are useful to us, either directly (maize, bamboo, etc.) or indirectly (as food for cattle).
Thank you Jon
I will check out that link now and get back to you.
dobie
Thanks again Jon
That link provided the bulk of the information I was looking for. Very good thru-links as well for answers to my next questions.
Of course, it all expands out from there, which is why I value links that come from this forum rather than the broad google searches that I do. It is so easy to get so lost for so long; the 'pre-approved' links from people with more expertise than I, are so much more efficient.
I will read thru it again as I wouldn't pretend to have understood it all by the first read. Many new words, (lots of Latin) and concepts as well. I think it's amazing that any one person could know so much detail about something so basic. I know it's a long line of the work by many people over many years, but it's still amazing.
BTW, I will be planting (my test wheat) today. The time is right and I will plant it right in the deers' face (so to speak). We'll see what happens.
Thanks very much.
dobie
...to think of the deer and to provide them with nice green shoots for a winter snack. ;-)
That page has far too much genetics for me to follow in detail, too, but interesting to see the development of modern wheat described like that.
Jon
Yes, but better too much detail then not enough.
We'll see what the deer do. This is a heavily wooded area and the deer do quite well. There is a lot for them to eat, even in winter.
The population does so well that different towns have taken to different procedures to try and control the numbers. First, they tried hunting them out but apparently they weren't too successful in that (not even close to their quota) and the public reaction was quite rabid against it.
Now the push is for sterilization, which I would have thought meant putting out birth control meds with some food. But that is not the case, they shoot them with a knock-out dart and then spay the females and (recently) have taken to castrating the males.
As it turns out there have been deaths (mostly amongst the females) at about 1 in 10 and the public is once again up in arms.
dobie
Just like we have in music Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Modern yet collectively they are known as Classical, so to with wheat.
Wheat is a cereal grain and a grass. It also belongs in the wheat family tree of which Einkorn, Emmer, Khorasan, Spelt (and many others) also belong to. They all have their own characteristics and unique make up but have a common ancestor. Wheat at one time was a wild grass but became cultivated and over many years, whether naturally or by human intervention, became hybridised to form the all these different varieties. When grasses hybridise they don't just form a slightly different grass but a whole new species. This is why they are all unique but belong to the same family tree.
Not all grasses are wheat though.
Nice analogy.
It's one I use when discussing breadmaking with friends and family who are interested. It is funny how collectively its all called classical, and likewise wheat, when it is just one branch of the family tree and not even the original.
http://archaeology.about.com/od/domestications/qt/wheat.htm
http://news.sciencemag.org/archaeology/2009/06/ancient-waves-wild-grain
http://archaeology.about.com/od/domestications/qt/wheat.htm
http://news.sciencemag.org/archaeology/2009/06/ancient-waves-wild-grain
http://archaeology.about.com/od/domestications/qt/wheat.htm
http://news.sciencemag.org/archaeology/2009/06/ancient-waves-wild-grain