Einkorn, Unlikely Beneficiary of the Gluten Persecution 

        

There’s a lot more information out there about einkorn in 2018 than in years prior (though availability to procure trails behind press), it’s resurgence a benefit of the culinary elite’s embracing of all things ancient, along with the (very American) eternal search for a panacea including bread without bloat. Don’t be misled, einkorn absolutely has gluten in it, but even for many with bonafide Celiac Disease, einkorn often produces few to zero symptoms of inflammation. Further proof of nuance in the great Gluten Persecution of the modern age!
Einkorn produces a dough of low-level elasticity when handled correctly- you’re not going to get 100% einkorn croissant dough anytime soon- and plays along well considering how unequipped it’s protein structure really is for bread making. It’s not nearly as pliable or buoyant as common wheat, and is much harder to get a stretch and rise from.

It’s also poorly built for any manner of heavy duty mechanization, the introduction of which brought the wheat we’re all more familiar with, which is much easier to harvest, process and bake into palatable and consistent loaves, to the top. Einkorn has a tough outer husk (called the glume, if you can believe it), and will not wait patiently on the stalk for the farmer to harvest it. For sure, this founder crop and others like it brought on the Neolithic Revolution; they were not an engineered product of it. Once we’d become sedentary agriculturalists (another reason some Paleo diet enthusiasts and their ilk shun the introduction of wheat, blaming the loss of hunting and gathering for the toxic market-based inferno of an industrial civilization in which we exist, as if humans ever stood a chance of avoiding it!), a wheat that played according to the rules of cultivation won the affection of both machine and consumer.

 

^{Einkorn sourdough, recipe below}

The science of einkorn’s genetic makeup has been thoroughly discussed at this point (have yourself a Google), and while I can yap about the difference between a diploid and a hexaploid chromosomic structure with insouciant ignorance, there are others better suited for explaining its intricacies (a few sources are linked at the bottom of this page). So I’ll be brief: einkorn has half the amount of chromosomes found in modern bread wheat. That means it has lower gluten levels, making it much easier to digest for everyone, not just those with sensitivities. It has more protein, Vitamin B6, carotenoids and phosphorous (which keeps your bones strong) than modern bread wheat, too. Normally the cons for these kinds of pros, when we’re talking bread, are a heavy texture and lingering bitter earthiness. Baking with einkorn manages instead to impart a nutty sweetness to breads, though the process feels a little different than making a standard loaf. Ask the right person (me) and they’ll tell you this bread is better than most made with regular wheat, not just a fine alternative if necessary. 

All of this improved health and flavor propaganda aside, the bigger story provides even more reasons to partake. Einkorn developed in the Fertile Crescent near Karacadağ, a volcano on the border of Turkey and Syria, tens of thousands of years ago. This site is einkorn’s Vavilov Center*, an area where a crop originates, and one that is vital to its health. I think of it as the plant’s ‘safe space’. Vavilov Centers are ideally suited for the crop’s maintenance and hold keys to their propagation, especially as climates shift and modern hybrids, which often lack resiliency in the face of change, suffer the consequences. The birthplace of this crop has been radically effected by the conflict in Syria, and the seed bank holding it’s progeny, which was centered in Aleppo, has been damaged and transferred to Beirut in whatever capacity possible. At this point, Syria is the only country in the world to have already requested seeds back from the aptly titled ‘doomsday’ seed vault in Svalbard, Norway. Of the request, 300 varieties were einkorn. Those seeds are now being grown in parts of North Africa whose climate is reminiscent of the land from which they originally sprung.


                                           

 

Einkorn really is the most ancient of grains: it grew wild for millions of years before cultivation and is the only wheat to never be hybridized. This gives it a unique ability to help researchers and growers develop breeds of wheat that can withstand an increasingly inhospitable and changeable planet, considering it’s ability to maintain for the last few millennia. Unlike hybrid common bread wheat, einkorn has clues locked in it’s untouched DNA which can ultimately underscore universal food security. Despite this, the demand will never touch that of bread wheat, so every bit of public interest counts. The growing popularity in the grain doesn’t just help new distributors profit off a trending item, it allows these farmers to keep growing it. A big win for everyone.

*Named after Nikolai Vavilov, a Russian botanist and a founding father of the systematic preservation of seeds and biodiversity, who, in one of the most ironic deaths of all time, starved in prison as his seed bank was held under siege in the throes of WWII. Other staff members of the seed bank also starved inside the building while protecting the sacks of saved- and edible- seed.

                  
^{The man, the myth, Nikolai Vavilov}

This is a pretty standard einkorn loaf, which is all the grain really needs to be celebrated. It has a nutty sweetness and totally lacks any bitterness that might normally be associated with whole wheat. This loaf is small, requires a general familiarity with sourdough breadmaking but no advanced skills by any means. The shaping is as basic at comes for a boule that’s shaped at all.
This bread has, to me, very comforting notes of good old Grape Nuts, which when covered in milk and microwaved until soggy, was one of my favorite childhood snacks. So sue me.
I love this bread, eat it often, and suffer not at all.  

100% Einkorn Sourdough

-I keep a rye starter at 65% hydration. Feel free to use a wet starter, keeping an eye on your water additions accordingly. I made a levain and fed it twice with einkorn to get the preferment used in this loaf. 

-If you want a more buxom bread, multiply all listed quantities by 1.25. 

 
INGREDIENTS
325g whole grain einkorn flour*
50g active firm rye or einkorn starter
245g water

8g salt
12g barley malt syrup (optional)
30-35g water

*available online from Eli Rogosa of the Heritage Grain Conservancy, Jovial Foods, or pickup at the GrowNYC Grain Stand.