Have you heard about Spelt? Its an ancient wheat, known worldwide up to the 20th century then just dropped in favour of bread wheat, in almost all areas where it had been previously grown.
Spelt has now been re-introduced by Doves Farm of Hungerford, Berkshire, since 1996, at Shipton Mill of Tetbury, in the Coteswold, where they have been milling flour for a very long time and now, also organic spelt; and at Sharpham Park in Somerset, organic spelt has been grown and milled since 2005, when their new farm business came into being; they provide an online supply of British home grown milled flour, plus bread, a breakfast cereal and their Pearled Risotto grain. Spelt is popular with the organic farming community and the health food industry, since the grain needs fewer fertilisers for growing, thus both industries have been in favour of this organic grain and have made it popular. It is sold in specialist shops and health food stores (Holland and Barrett) and in Supermarkets, Sainsbury's and Waitrose.
I heard of Sharpham Park thru' Kellie Anderson of Food to Glow (email - kellie@kelliesfoodtoglow.com
It is certainly a little more costly to produce and buy, because of the extra processing stage for husk removal prior to milling, and because of its "minority product" status...(Spelt - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Sainsbury's. Holland and Barrett and Waitrose sell Spelt products such as Doves Farm flour and Organic flour, while Waitrose also stock Sharpham Park of Somerset (www.sharphampark.com) Organic Pearled Spelt, their muesli, flour and a Spelt Risotto with Pumpkin and Shallot. You can buy Sharpham Park Spelt products online and from their farm shop.
I've been eating spelt home baked goods for about three weeks now and have only noticed very slight effects, nothing too much at all, and its been wonderful, being able to eat bread again. I'm still experimenting with the muffin and crumpet recipes from Elizabeth David's brilliant book -"English Bread and Yeast Cookery" - ISBN 07139 1026 7 - given to me many years ago by a dear friend, and I'm sure to be wanting to report on further findings, as I make and taste other items cooked with Spelt.
The research is very interesting and I find it all most thrilling to continue with my cooking and tasting experimentation.
My reference sources for all my Spelt posts are via - Wikipedia - the free online encyclopedia; Faith Durand of the Kitchn (http://thekitchn.com/authors/faith) for her Sponsored Post and books; Nature's Legacy of Purity Foods, Inc.(info@nongmoproject.org.); Doves Farm - at www.dovesfarm.co.uk
I'm still baking English Muffins and Crumpets to Elizabeth David's book - English Bread and Yeast Cookery with Spelt flour and I'll let you know how my cooking goes!
Have fun with your cooking experiments!
Daisy
All reference details and sources correct at time of publication but if I have included any errors in this blog please do let me know and I should value your feedback.
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