Food
and cooking articles and information:
Quinoa
~ Botanical Name: Chenopodium quinoa
This
article has been written specially for Hub-UK
by Tallyrand
  Quinoa
(pronounced keen-wa or kee-noo-ah) is not a true cereal
grain, but rather the botanical fruit of an herb plant.
It is however treated as a grain in cooking. The grains
are small yellow flattened spheres, approximately 1.5
to 2 mm in diameter. When cooked, the germ coils into
a small "tail" that lends a pleasant crunch.
The leaves of the plant can also be eaten raw in salads
or cooked like spinach.
One
of the world's most perfect foods, it has been consumed
for thousands of years in South America. Its small nutritious
seeds resemble millet and is very versatile to a variety
of cooking styles, inviting seasonings from mild to
wild. Quinoa seeds are naturally coated with a bitter-tasting
saponin that protects it from birds and insects, this
is removed during processing.
Quinoa
flour, ground from whole seeds, has a delicate nutty
flavour. A gluten-free product, it is suitable for anyone
afflicted by wheat allergies. Quinoa can be eaten as
hot breakfast cereal; an infant cereal; a rice replacement;
a nutritional thickener for soups, chilli and stew;
in salads, casseroles and desserts; and more.
The
plant is a broad-leafed, annual herb that grows wild
and which has also been cultivated for thousands of
years in the Andes. When mature, this tall plant is
topped off with large plume-like seed heads that range
in colour from vivid red, orange or yellow to black
or white. Before being eaten, quinoa seeds must be processed
to remove their bitter coating of saponin. After washing
or dry polishing, the ready-to-cook seeds are white
or beige in colour.
Quinoa's
spinach-like leaves and its seeds are highly nutritious.
The leaves, which unfortunately seldom reach the ‘modern’
consumer, may be eaten raw in salads or cooked like
spinach. They are high in Vitamin A. The seeds that
ate now readily available are rich in protein, high
in fibre, and particularly rich in the amino acid Lysine.
The
‘seeds’ are also good sources of calcium, phosphorus
and vitamins B and E. There are several varieties of
quinoa available in the shops, which range in colour
from dark brown to near white. The latter varieties
are most common and are considered superior. If storage
beyond 3-4 weeks is required it should be stored in
the refrigerator or even the freezer.
Once
cooked, quinoa is delicious and extremely versatile;
it may be used in the place of almost any other grain,
including rice, to make everything from appetisers to
desserts to pasta. You can even substitute it in your
favourite recipe for rice pudding!
But
where does this plant originate? It was one
of the most sacred foods of the ancient Incas of South
America, a plant so nourishing, delicious and vital,
they called it chesiya mama; the ‘mother grain’. Each
year the Incan emperor so it is said would, using a
golden spade plant the first quinoa seeds of the season.
At the solstice, priests bearing golden vessels filled
with quinoa made offerings to Inti; the sun.
How
come it is only just becoming available now? Why
then unlike the other Inca "wonder foods"
maize and potatoes, so little known outside of South
America? This question has never really been answered,
but one theory is that the Spaniards who carried maize
and potatoes back to Europe in the sixteenth century
may have tasted quinoa that had not been properly processed
and would have been bitter to the palate and therefore
failed to realise its potential.
Fortunately
though, the skilful farmers of the Andes continued to
cultivate it and, thus, presented this ancient "supergrain"
for the modern world. Much of the credit for its introduction
to the ‘modern world’ goes to the late Dave Cusack,
a Colorado native. In 1984, Cusack and two partners
began to import quinoa from South America.
Nutritional
Information for Quinoa
(Amount: 1/2 cup/ 80gm : dry)
Basic
Information
| Calories |
: |
374 |
| Protein |
: |
13
grams |
| Carbohydrates |
: |
69
grams |
| Fat |
: |
6
grams |
| Dietary
Fibre |
: |
unknown |
| Cholesterol |
: |
0
mg |
| Sodium |
: |
21
mg |
Vitamins
| Vitamin
B6 |
: |
0.2
mg |
| Vitamin
B12 |
: |
0
mg |
| Folacin |
: |
49
mg |
| Niacin |
: |
3
mg |
| Riboflavin |
: |
0.4
mg |
| Thiamin |
: |
0.2
mg |
Minerals
| Copper |
: |
0.8
mg |
| Iron |
: |
9
mg |
| Magnesium |
: |
210
mg |
| Manganese |
: |
2.3
mg |
| Phosphorus |
: |
410
mg |
| Potassium |
: |
740
mg |
| Zinc |
: |
3
mg |
Fat
Composition
| Saturated
Fat |
: |
less
than 1 gram |
Associated
recipe:
Spinach
Quinoa with oven roasted root vegetables and fried rice
noodles
|
