All of us are familiar with grains in their mature, dry state, which allows them to be stored for many years. Less well known is the tradition of enjoying small grains in their immature (green) state as a perishable, seasonal delicacy. Throughout the middle east, from Egypt to Turkey, immature durum and bread wheat are swathed, scorched and threshed to produce frikeh (frik, firik, freekeh). In southern Germany, Switzerland and Austria, immature spelt is harvested and roasted to produce grünkern. Across North Africa, heads of green barley are steamed and then threshed. There are similar traditions in the Ukraine and Georgia using bread wheat.

We started fulminating about green grains a few years ago having bought a small package of grünkern in a German grocery store. It was not very tasty, but we enjoyed the sweet grassy flavor of immature grains and knew we could produce something delicious. In our research on the subject, we found a paper by Professor Lytton Musselman describing the making of frikeh in northwestern Syria. Musselman is a distinguished botanist and an international authority on parasitic plants and quillworts, who also has an interest in the plants of the Bible. Although the paper was in a scientific format, the text and photos gave us enough information to become frikeh makers.

Recently, there has been gathering interest in these delicious smoky green grains. They are more nutritious than mature grains, high in dietary fiber and low in phytic acid. The smoky, nutty quality of the grain adds a unique and new dimension to vegetarian dishes. Over the last year, Bon Appétit (September 2005), Gourmet (October 2005) and Metropolitan Home (November 2005) have published recipes calling for frikeh. This essay explains how we produce parched green grains on our farm.

The processing of frikeh is rustic, a scene worthy of Brueghel the Elder or Thomas Hart Benton; a far cry from the convoys of combines used to harvest the typical grain field. Equipment is simple. The cutting of the wheat is done with a scythe or sickle bar mower. For parching the wheat, we have constructed several frikeh sleds by bolting three sheets of corrugated steel panel together. At one end of the sled, we bolted on a slotted angle iron and attached a steel cable pull cord to the angle. You can use loose panels, but the sled keeps the process clean and efficient. We also have drying frames built from 1 x 4 lumber and 8 x 8 hardware cloth. These are not single purpose tools; the sleds and drying frames are used for many purposes on the farm.

Harvest of the grain is done during the brief interval between the “milk stage,” when endosperm is still liquid and sweet, and the “soft dough” stage, when the endosperm is solidifying and developing its starches. Too early and the grains shrivel; too late and the grains are no longer sweet and green. The right moment is when a kernel is pinched and yields only a tiny drop of “milk.” Depending upon the weather, the optimal window for frikeh production is two to four days.

We cut the wheat with a sickle bar mower and the sheaves are stacked on the corrugated metal sleds with their heads lined up in a row. The heads are roasted with a large propane burner. The goal is to burn off the awns and scorch the palea and glume that surround the grain. The fire imparts a smoky flavor to the grain, and the heating stops the maturation of the endosperm. The ideal frikeh grain is green with just the tip charred.

There are always challenges you cannot plan for. It took us several weeks of phone calls to find untreated durum wheat seed in anything short of a railway car. Finally a kind office manager remembered they had a couple of sacks left over from cleaning an elevator boot. The next June, we had determined the perfect time to start burning. We passed the fire house on the way home from the mail to see a big sign announcing “BURN BAN TODAY.” Worse yet, they were having some sort of terrorism drill and we had a fire truck parked in our driveway all morning. We shrugged our shoulders and agreed that vegetarian barbecues must be exempt, and kept the smoke plume as discrete as possible.

The next step is to thresh and winnow the grain. Scorched durum is very easy to thresh and it can be done by hand, at least for home use, if not commercially. All of our test runs were burned with a plumber’s torch and threshed between our hands. Depending upon other tasks at hand, a farmer can hand process 200 LB of frikeh in a couple of days, enough to add some zip to a CSA box. We use a larger stationary thresher for the task, but a small combine that allows hand feeding would also work. Be forewarned, it is a sooty business, and you end the day looking like one of Dorthea Lange’s coal miners.

Our first year, we hand winnowed all of the grain, which was tedious. We now use a Clipper seed cleaner. (See equipment review on page 18.) We clean the grain twice, once after threshing and then later when the grain is dry. The grain is at its very best fresh, but in that moist and sweet condition it is just as perishable as berries or peaches. In this state, it can be refrigerated for a few days, or frozen. Very fresh frikeh is probably best sold in paper instead of plastic bags, so there is no sweating. Drying allows the farmer to sell it at a measured pace, which is how we sell most of our frikeh.

Drying is the most perilous part of the process. It must be done under cover, or the grain will be bleached by the sun. Birds and rodents place the grain in high esteem. Finally, there is the march of the molds. The first year, we learned that the grains have a deceptively high moisture content and cannot be dried on a tarp or in an undrained tray. The dense moist air quickly builds up creating a perfect culture medium for molds and yeasts.

Open bottom trays are essential to the enterprise. When fresh, we put only a half inch or so of grain in each tray, consolidating the trays as the grain dries. The trays are stacked five or six high atop a saw horse and stickered with furring strips. A sheet of corrugated roof panel sits on top to keep the birds and squirrels at bay. The grain is stirred, not shaken, two or three times a day to facilitate drying. Situate the trays in a barn or on a porch where there is good airflow. A fan to supplement air movement won’t hurt. Mold is the biggest challenge we face. In our first year, we dumped hundreds of pounds of grain due to molds and yeasts. During the first few days of drying, it pays to be obsessive about the process.

We have parched soft white wheat (Triticum aestivum), durum (T. durum) and spelt (T. spelta). We prefer the texture and flavor of the durum and spelt. The durum, which is traditionally used for frikeh, has chewy texture and excellent flavor. The spelt is tender, has a distinct caramel-like sweetness, and is good for desserts and the main course. The hull of spelt is hard and tight to the kernel, making it very hard to thresh mechanically and impossible to do so by hand. We adjust the concaves as close as possible against the cylinder and manage to knock out about 60% of the grain. The Germans use special hulling machines to process spelt. This year, we will experiment treating hulless oats the same way, and in the future hulless barley and club wheat look to be good roasting candidates.

The finished grain is rinsed a couple of times and cooked. Any remaining chaff and stems can easily be skimmed off during the rinsing or cooking. The fresh grain is then cooked for 45 minutes to several hours. It holds up well to extended cooking. We use plain water rather than stock so as to retain the delicate flavor of the grain.

Frikeh is traditionally served with lamb or chicken. Tradition aside, the grain may be used in any recipe that uses rice or bulgur wheat. It is extremely versatile and wonderful with all summer vegetables. We cook up big pots of the grain and use it over several meals. It can be used in soups, salads, raitas and pilafs. Our customers find grünkern even more versatile and use it as a breakfast cereal, for fruit compotes and vegetarian burgers.

A longtime champion of frikeh, Paula Wolfert provides a recipe or two in each of her various middle eastern cookbooks. For market farmers, we especially recommend her Mediterranean Greens and Grains cookbook. It is an essential read for any farmer interested in expanding their understanding of greens, as well as grains. Jenni Muir’s grain cookbook also provides a description and recipes for frikeh. The culinary literature is bereft of any guidance on grünkern. Fortunately, we have found most of our customers are unfazed by its unfamiliarity, and just have a good time with this new ingredient.

Market farmers who have pondered the possibility of incorporating grains into the crop mix should give consideration to producing parched grains such a frikeh. Because of the narrow harvest season, their perishable nature and high labor requirements, these specialty grains are best suited to smaller operations. Although some imported frikeh is available, freshness is a critical component of the grain’s quality. Consequently, increased imports will likely benefit the market farmer’s effort by further popularizing the grain, but frikeh fresh from the farm will always be tastier or, as Gourmet describes it, “smoky and sensuous.” We sell our grain for five dollars a pound which makes it a profitable component of our market mix. ï ¹

References
Muir, Jenni. 2002. A Cooks Guide to Grains. London: Conran Octopus Ltd.
Musselman, L. J. and A. B. Mouslem. 2001. Frikeh, roasted green wheat. Economic Botany 55(2): 187-189. See http://www.odu.edu/webroot/instr/sci/plant.nsf/pages/frikeh
Wolfert, Paula. 1998. Mediterranean Greens and Grains. NY: HarperCollins. 368p.
Wolfert, Paula. 1994. The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean. NY: HarperCollins.
Wolfert, Paula. 1994. Mediterranean Cooking. NY: HarperPerennial. 320p.

Anthony and Carol Boutard operate Ayers Creek Farm, an Oregon Tilth certified organic farm in Gaston, Oregon. They grow canefruits (red, purple and black raspberries, blackberries, loganberries and boysenberries), plums, chestnuts, winter vegetables, fresh shell and dry beans, and specialty grains. They may be contacted by email at aboutard@orednet.org.