Introduce yourself to soft, nutty, slightly sweet spelt flour, and discover how it complements these hazelnut shortbreads
Seven years ago, I walked along Oxford Street in London with the baker and writer Henrietta Inman. I can’t remember where we’d been in order to be illuminated by Foot Locker and Muji at midnight, but I do remember we talked about spelt flour. Or, rather, Henrietta did, describing its flavour as soft and nutty, and all as part of our wider conversation about her decision to leave the subterranean pastry kitchen of a five-star London hotel and return home to Dorset, where she adapted her knowledge and skill to different ingredients, resulting in her book The Natural Baker.
Back then, I knew a bit about spelt’s importance in ancient cooking (by various civilisations, including the Romans, who called it the marching grain), but I was confused as to what spelt actually was, which wasn’t helped by the translations: spelta, farro spelta, emmer, einkorn, dinkel wheat. While we crossed Regent Street and passed the many windows of John Lewis, Henrietta explained that spelt was a grass related to wheat and a cousin to farro; she also encouraged me to think less about names and more about flavour, and how it could work in pastry and biscuits. Also to try emmer, einkorn, rye and barley flour. It would take me seven years to heed her advice.
Continue reading… Introduce yourself to soft, nutty, slightly sweet spelt flour, and discover how it complements these hazelnut shortbreadsSeven years ago, I walked along Oxford Street in London with the baker and writer Henrietta Inman. I can’t remember where we’d been in order to be illuminated by Foot Locker and Muji at midnight, but I do remember we talked about spelt flour. Or, rather, Henrietta did, describing its flavour as soft and nutty, and all as part of our wider conversation about her decision to leave the subterranean pastry kitchen of a five-star London hotel and return home to Dorset, where she adapted her knowledge and skill to different ingredients, resulting in her book The Natural Baker.Back then, I knew a bit about spelt’s importance in ancient cooking (by various civilisations, including the Romans, who called it the marching grain), but I was confused as to what spelt actually was, which wasn’t helped by the translations: spelta, farro spelta, emmer, einkorn, dinkel wheat. While we crossed Regent Street and passed the many windows of John Lewis, Henrietta explained that spelt was a grass related to wheat and a cousin to farro; she also encouraged me to think less about names and more about flavour, and how it could work in pastry and biscuits. Also to try emmer, einkorn, rye and barley flour. It would take me seven years to heed her advice. Continue reading… Food, Italian food and drink, Nuts and seeds, Biscuits, Baking, Snacks
