All About Emmer
When my fiance was diagnosed with diabetes in 2005, we thought his days of eating rice and pasta were over. He has very little trouble with pizza, and can usually split a dessert with me when we go out to eat, but foods like risotto, penne puttenesca, and lasagna were largely off the table. Luckily I’m a pretty good cook, and a relatively adventurous one. I’m willing to make sugar substitutions and I’ve even found a snickerdoodle recipe made with Almond meal that’s low carb and tastes almost as good as the full sugar version. However, the one food I was never able to replace was rice.
Fast forward two years to this past summer. Wandering around the local farmers market, we see a new booth selling flour. We try to eat local whenever possible, so intrigued, we stopped in. They have more than flour. They have grains as well. One of the grains they had was something we’d never heard of before - Emmer Farro. Emmer, we were told, was a high protein grain (up to 16% protein) and was generally considered one of the lower glycemic grains. Being the adventurous couple that we are, we brought a bag home with us and I made risotto.
Well, a test a few hours after the meal proved that at least for my finace, Emmer produced no appreciable blood sugar rise. Yay! Rice was back in our lives!
Now that I’ve hopefully intrigued you a bit, here’s some background on Emmer.
Emmer (or Emmer Farro) is a type of wheat. It’s history goes back to the Near East in ancient times (it’s commonly referred to as one of the first domesticated grains). There are traces of wild Emmer all the way back to 17,000 BC, and domesticated Emmer appears around 7,700 BC. There is mention of Emmer in ancient Jewish literature, being one of the five grains that are forbidden during Passover.
Emmer is grown in several places in the United States, although it has it’s widest cultivation in Italy. It is a hulled wheat, and needs both threshing and milling to release the grains from the husks. Now, here’s where things get interesting. Even though Emmer is a wheat, the gluten found in Emmer is slightly different from that found in the more common grains such a durum wheat. A friend of ours with a wheat allergy can tolerate the Emmer without a problem. If you suffer from a gluten allergy or celiac disease, your mileage may vary.
Emmer’s nutritional information is as follows (1/4 cup uncooked):
- Calories: 150
- Fat: 1 gram
- Carbohydrates: 32 grams
- Fiber: 3 grams
- Protein: 6 grams
The higher protein content, paired with the fiber content, helps to make Emmer tolerable for many diabetics.
So, how does it taste?
Well, when I introduced it to a friend a few weeks ago, she compared it to brown rice with one caveat. “It’s squeekier,” she said. Emmer has the chewiness of brown rice, but there is a little bit of a squeak when eating it. The flavor is slightly nutty, but very mild. When using Emmer in risotto, you’ll taste the flavors you add to the risotto, not the Emmer.
Now that I’ve tantalized you with all of these facts, how about a recipe? I have about 30 different Emmer recipes and I really can’t choose just one. So here are two!
Emmer and Wild Mushroom Risotto
serves 6-8
1 1/2 cups Emmer
3 ounces dried mushrooms (of any type)
6 cups water
1 cup Parmesan cheese
Soak the mushrooms in 6 cups of hot water for about an hour to reconstitute. Reserve the water, which will be a rich brown color, and chop the mushrooms in to small pieces.
Add the reserved mushroom water to a large stock pot and bring it to a boil. Add the Emmer and boil for 10 minutes.
Reduce the heat to medium, add the chopped mushrooms, and simmer the Emmer for another 40 minutes. The timing on this isn’t exact, but you’ll know when it’s ready because it will start to look like a gooey mess of rice and mushrooms.
Take the pot off the heat and stir in the Parmesan cheese until just melted.
I’ve plated it above with some grilled wild salmon and roasted asparagus.
One of my favorite uses for Emmer is as a conveyance for sauces, particularly in any Asian-inspired dishes. This dish is healthy, quick, and can be made into a wrap or served on top of a generous scoop of Emmer.
serves 4
1 1/5 cups Emmer
6 cups water
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 tsp ground coriander
2-3 inches of fresh ginger root
4 tsp oil (grapeseed works best)
2 tsp Sherry vinegar
Salt and pepper
1 bunch green onions
1/2 cup mango chutney or salsa
1/4 cup chicken broth or water
2 cloves minced garlic
In a medium saucepan, heat the water to boiling and add the Emmer. Boil for 10 minutes and then reduce heat and simmer for 30-40 minutes. Drain.
While the Emmer is cooking, slice the chicken into pieces that are approximately 1/2 inch thick. Mix with the coriander, 1 teaspoon of fresh grated ginger, 2 teaspoons oil, and the vinegar. Add a couple of dashes of salt and pepper. You can marinate on the counter for as little as 15 minutes, or cover and refrigerate for several hours.
While the chicken is marinating, slice the whites of the green onions thinly. Julienne the green parts of the green onions. Peel and julienne the rest of the ginger and set aside.
In a separate bowl, mix the chutney, chicken broth, and garlic. If there are any large mango chunks in the chutney, chop them. Alternatively, you can do what I did and just blend the ingredients in a blender or mini food processor.
In a large wok or fry pan, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of the oil on medium-high heat. Add the sliced green onions and julienned ginger and stir fry for a minute or two.
Add the chicken and cook until the chicken is just about done (about 5-7 minutes). Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the sauce and the julienned green onions. Cook for another 4 or 5 minutes. The sauce will thicken slightly.
You can serve this dish in a tortilla, or over a generous scoop of Emmer, or as I’ve shown it here, over Emmer in a tortilla. 
