Buckwheat

Buckwheat is a fast-growing annual with heart-shaped leaves, reddish stems and clusters of fragrant white or pink flowers that are popular with bees. The fruits are small, three-cornered, dark brown to black seeds, similar in shape to beechnuts.

Hulled seeds, called groats, are pale greenish tan and are sold raw or roasted. Roasted groats, known as kasha, are brown with a toasty, earthy, nutty flavour.

It is also sold as flour, flakes, noodles, grits and tea. The grain is a seed from a broadleaf plant rather than a grass, which is why it is called a pseudocereal.

Common buckwheat is thought to have been domesticated in southwestern China and the Himalayan region, perhaps four to six thousand years ago, from wild Fagopyrum relatives. It spread through China and Central Asia to Russia and Europe in the Middle Ages.

Tartary buckwheat, Fagopyrum tataricum, is a related species grown in the Himalayas and southwestern China.

The English name is from the Dutch boekweit, meaning beech wheat, because of the resemblance of the seeds to beechnuts, and the Latin name Fagopyrum means beech wheat as well. In several languages, the name refers to the Saracens or the pagans, hinting at its introduction through the East.

Buckwheat has fed highland and northern peoples who could not easily grow wheat, since it grows quickly in cool, poor soils and matures in about ten weeks. It spread westward with Mongol and Turkic movements, reaching eastern Europe by the 13th to 15th centuries.

In Russia, Ukraine and Poland, kasha, a porridge made from groats, became a national staple. In Brittany, France, buckwheat galettes were the poor people's bread, and in Japan, soba noodles were made from buckwheat from at least the Edo period, becoming a favourite street food in Edo and the dish of New Year's Eve. In the Italian Alps, pizzoccheri pasta is made from buckwheat.

European settlers brought the plant to North America, where buckwheat pancakes were a common breakfast in the 19th century.

The crop declined with the rise of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser and high-yield wheat in the 20th century, but interest has returned because of gluten-free diets.

Groats are boiled as a porridge or pilaf, or toasted as kasha and served with onion, mushrooms or butter. Flour is used for soba noodles, Breton galettes, blinis, pancakes and Ethiopian-style flatbreads, often mixed with wheat flour for structure.

In India, buckwheat flour, called kuttu, is eaten during religious fasts. Roasted buckwheat tea, known as sobacha in Japan, is a caffeine-free drink.

Buckwheat hulls are used to stuff pillows, and the plant is grown as a cover crop and for honey production, as buckwheat honey is dark and strongly flavoured.

Buckwheat provides plant protein with a good amino acid balance, fibre, magnesium, manganese and the flavonoid rutin, which has been studied for vascular effects. It is naturally gluten-free, and its glycaemic response is moderate.

Some small studies link buckwheat consumption to improved blood sugar and cholesterol, but evidence is limited. It is best seen as a nutritious whole grain alternative.