From Themill

Civilization’s very origin corresponds with our ability to domesticate and grow grain. Yet right now, all around the world, farmers and chefs are seeing grain as if for the first time. More chefs are supporting local grain farmers. More farmers, even old-school farmers, are swapping industrial farming methods for something smaller but healthier, both for their farmlands and customers. And we get to enjoy their hard work. It’s as easy as stepping into the bakery and choosing from the warm selection of croissants, muffins, ciabatta, pizzas and cookies. The variety of local grain products available right now can be surprising. Northwest grain farmers grow corn for polenta, durum wheat for couscous, and oats for steel-cut and rolled oats. They are selling unmilled whole grains, including barley, farro, quinoa, and wheat berries. Some are even cultivating wild rice in traditional paddies. Some farmers are milling their own grains, too. This means operating mills on site, rather than shipping grains off to be milled. In most cases, this extra effort retains each kernel of grain’s bran, germ and endosperm, the primary nutrients that make grain healthy (and flavorful). The chefs embracing local and whole grains do so hungrily. At Xico in Portland, you won’t just find house- made tortillas but house-made tortillas made using house-milled corn flour, or masa. At Nostrana, as the following interview with chef and owner Cathy Whims shows, you’ll find Italian pastas, breads, and creamy polentas with histories hundreds of years old being made with flours from local grains. Whole grains offer the opportunity to explore our roots. After all, for many people, breakfast cereals, breads and rice are staples. It’s time to see just how tasty and healthy they can get. from themill

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Cathy Whims is six-time James Beard-nominee for Best there are whole grains in things. It’s kinda like when CChef Northwest (commonly known as the “Oscars” of the you start drinking wine or beer. You don’t actually culinary world). She’s the executive chef of Nostrana, the want nuance: You just want this one, great flavor. restaurant whose uncommon pastas, breads and sauces And then, as you start to learn, you say, “Oh wow, this set the bar for authentic Italian food in Oregon. Whims is wine has some mineral quality.” It’s just learning to also a former co-owner of Genoa, the restaurant widely appreciate it. acknowledged for putting fine-dining on the map in NWTM: What are some of the things that you make at Portland in the 1970s. Nostrana using local grains? The hands of Chef Whims have compassionately WHIMS: We use whole grains in some of our breads, worked egg yolks into whole grain flours in Italy as well pastas and salads. We add small amounts of whole as Oregon, and she has been experimenting with local wheat or farro flour to our pasta dough, but we don’t grains since the movement was in its infancy. We caught use any 100 percent. The part of the whole grain— up with Chef Whims at Nostrana and, over a glass of the little dark pieces of grain that you see in whole Italian wine during a busy lunch service, discussed how wheat—they act like little knives. They keep dough she uses local grains. from staying together, so we usually make a blend of one-third stone ground flour and two-thirds all- NORTHWEST TASTEMAKER: When did whole grains purpose flour. first come onto your radar? NWTM: Do you draw inspiration from the ways Italy has WHIMS: Well, [lowers voice] I’m kind of a hippie chick. used whole grains in the past? Like, I grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in the WHIMS: 60s, and that was a real center of hippiedom. My very Well, the further south you go, such as in Puglia, first cooking job was at a really good natural food there’s a lot of whole grain pasta that’s excited me a lot. restaurant called Pyewacket. I was the baker, and I The food there is historically born from poverty, and used to make honey whole wheat poppy seed bread. the peasants had the right to clean the fields after the And, actually, I got that job by making wheat berry whole local lord had harvested. The fields had been burned, wheat honey bread, using The Vegetarian Epicure, by so the people would use that burned wheat to make Anna Thomas. I would make it for my friends and soccer grano arso. So there’s this tradition of making dark coaches, and I became famous for being the girl who breads and pastas, such as orecchiette, using flour made from burned wheat. It’s got a special kick. made bread all of the time. So, I go way back. NWTM: Are there things that don’t work well NWTM: How did you connect with the local grain with whole grains? movement in Oregon? WHIMS: Risotto. The reason they use arborio or WHIMS: Greg Higgins (Higgins Restaurant) introduced carnaroli rice is because the rice bran has been me to Ayers Creek Farm, probably in 2000. The removed, and with the stirring of the risotto and the owners, Anthony and Carol Boutard, were there, and heat, the endosperm can dissolve. That’s what makes Greg told me, “You have to meet these people because risotto creamy and why using brown rice won’t work. their product is so amazing.” I went and I ate their polenta, and we started carrying their products in NWTM: Do you have any other tips for home cooks? Genoa. We’ve been really loyal ever since. WHIMS: I think the easiest thing is to just start adding Embracing the NWTM: What are some of the flavor differences between small amounts to whatever you are making. It breads or polentas that are made with whole grains could be dessert, pasta, breads… You’ll get more versus those that are not? comfortable with it and then add a little more. When making bread, you need to resist the urge to Local Grain WHIMS: The first thing that comes to mind is nutty. add more flour. The dough can be a little sticky, but And who doesn’t like nuts? It’s a sweetness, and not it’s okay. It will rise and be fine. And as opposed to a single type of sweetness. It’s like a rounder, savory from themill putting flour on your hands to make it less tacky, you Movement sweetness. Here, taste this [offers a piece of bread]. can use water. Can you taste that? That sweetness comes from the grain itself. There’s just more to taste. I have no NWTM: Is there anything that you’d like to see with local qualms about eating things that are processed—our grains in the future? ciabatta is all white flour—but I feel better when WHIMS: More! I think this is just the beginning.

81 TASTEMAKER nwtravelmag.com “With so much to play with in the region, I’m excited A NW Original to continue to introduce people to new and unexpected preparations of the ingredients that are found right in our, and their, backyards.” BOB’S Steve Topple, Whitetail Club and Shore Lodge (Idaho) With the rise of the gluten- oatmeal. Offering bulk sales, the store for one cup of regular wheat flour free diet and the understanding is a great way to sample whole grains; in most recipes, making it easy to that many common flours, rices for instance, you can buy a single transform familiar recipes into gluten- and cereals simply lack nutrients, serving of each of the 17 breakfast free pastries, muffins and cookies. RED MILL people like Bob have suddenly found cereals for around $3. You can also Reflecting on the decision themselves on a soapbox, from take a free mill tour (10:00 a.m., to create an employee owned which to show the rest of us how to Monday-Friday) as well as get a quality company, Dennis Gilliam, VP of live healthier and eat better. breakfast, lunch or dinner on site. sales and marketing and Bob's long- It’s strange that grain, one of the The difference between whole time business partner, says, “We most fundamental ingredients in our and refined grains lies in the never really had to investigate the diet, has received so little attention difference between stone and steel implications of selling out. We’d seen © Bob's Red Mill for so long. Sure, many of us know mills. Industrial steel mills operate what had happened when a big food the major grains, such as corn, wheat 60-times faster and produce flours conglomerate would come in and and barley, but how many of us can that have longer shelf lives, but they buy out a small successful business. list all 22? Or list the 15 grains that also remove bran fiber and wheat Sometimes, all they wanted was to don’t contain gluten? Sometimes the germ oil. In contrast, Bob’s Red Mill buy a name and the whole product simplest things go unnoticed, and uses quartz millstones to produce line was dissolved. Bob didn’t want it’s thanks in great part to chefs that whole grain flours. Whole grain this to be our future for the sake of grain is a national discussion. products retain natural bran and our customers and especially for In Alaska, chef Laura Cole buys wheat germ, which in turn provide our employees.” Perhaps thoughtful grain from Alaska Barley Company to more energy and health benefits, decisions like this are why Bob’s Red make her breads for her restaurant, such as reducing the risk of heart Mill products are keeping people 229 Parks. “The grain is hearty and disease and cancer. healthy around the world today. nutty, due to the natural stresses Currently, the product receiving it has growing in such a northern the most attention is Bob’s Gluten-Free To find out more about Bob’s Red Mill products or to plan a visit, climate,” she says. In Seattle, chef Roy 1-and-1 Baking Flour. For home chefs, go to bobsredmill.com. Breiman of Copperleaf Restaurant one cup of this flour blend substitutes combines green lentils from the Palouse region with local lomo (cured pork loin) to serve with its Anderson Ranch Lamb Saddle. Breiman says that Northwest cuisine is known for its authenticity, and using Washington grains and legumes plays an important part in that. Bob’s Red Mill has been championing whole grains since it “Eighty-six years old, works every day,” says opened in 1978, and it produces more Christie Coykendall, tour guide at Bob’s Red Mill. whole grain products than any other She’s talking about Bob. The Bob. The man who, company in the nation, if not the world. Its more than 400 products on his 81st birthday, gave his multi-million-dollar include pancake mixes, bean-soup from themill company to his employees. And the man who, since blends and stone-ground flours. 1978, has produced some of the world’s healthiest Visit its flagship store in Milwaukie, and most wholesome grain products, just outside Oregon, and there’s actually an entire wall dedicated to different whole grain Bob's Red Mill factory & store of Portland, Oregon. oats, from gluten-free oats to Scottish © Bob's Red Mill

York native, became a professional baker after studying Finding flavorful, functional and at the San Francisco Baking Institute and later creating efficient flour can be difficult, but bread programs for local San Francisco bakeries. It’s researchers at Washington State his job to transform the grain into food that consumers University-Mount Vernon have risen will both enjoy and benefit from. The key to this is to use 100 percent whole grain, which retains more flavor to the occasion by making their own. and nutrition when made into flour. Bethony’s favorite The Bread Lab, in Skagit Valley, recipes are the simplest, and with the good grain the Washington, sources and works with lab creates, they can also be the most beneficial. In the long run, the new grains, farming techniques and baking grain in order to produce the trifecta processes the Bread Lab develops means happier farmers of flavor, nutrition and function. and consumers. This beneficial simplicity is achievable because of the Bread Lab’s holistic system; they dedicate As part of the WSU-Mount Vernon Plant Breeding time and energy to every aspect of grain production. Program, the Bread Lab develops wheat varieties and From growth to consumption, the process is closely studies diversity in their locally grown grains. They aim monitored, analyzed and improved. The grain is fresh to use these grains to make current food systems more milled, fermented for 24 hours or longer, and sprayed very efficient, economically and agriculturally. little during its growth. Bethony says “it’s like conducting The Bread Lab research team consists of the director an orchestra.” Every step is important in its own way to Dr. Steven Jones, resident baker Jonathan Bethony develop the final product, and attention to detail is key to and five graduate students. Each year the team selects making the highest quality breads. Because of its success, different types of grain to use, and works with farmers the Bread Lab has moved to a new location. Upgrading to ensure quality and efficiency throughout their grain from a 600-square-foot room in the university’s Research production process. Center to its own 12,000-square-foot building, this new The process begins on the farm, where farmers space can accommodate more research and increased assess the wheat while it grows. This beginning stage is interaction with the public. To get a taste of their very important, because if a grain does not work for the work, enthusiasts are welcome to visit and participate farmer, it does not work for the Bread Lab. Ideal grains in a bread-baking workshop. Because the Bread Lab have a high yield and leave behind healthy land, making works with King Arthur Flour, these workshops will be it an economically efficient and environmentally friendly available year-round beginning in the spring of 2016 at a grain to grow. Baking Education Center opened by King Arthur Flour Once a type of grain is deemed plentiful and (kingarthurflour.com) in the new building. functional by farmers, it heads to the mill; then the In addition to baking bread, the lab’s researchers host from themill search is on at the lab to find the best way to bring out local accessibility and outreach programs at schools and its flavor and nutritional value. A kernel of grain is libraries to educate the public on plant breeding, and their savory and high in nutrition, while generally, flour is work to create more efficient grains. not. Maintaining these qualities throughout the course of grinding the grain into flour is where resident baker To learn more about the Bread Lab and its Jonathan Bethony comes in. Bethony, an upstate New workshops, visit thebreadlab.org.

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