Wisdom Seeded in Spelt
Long known as a healthy grain, spelt is making a modern comeback thanks to regional growers.
My mother’s side of the family immigrated to the U.S. from Spoltore, Italy. The town’s name was inspired by the spelt grain grown there in ancient times. But the history of spelt is richer than its gathering in Italy. Its origin story begins in the Middle East. Cultivation of the grain has grown to include Ohio, which is one of the largest spelt-producing regions in the country.
On winter mornings, my mother cooked up cream of wheat, cream of rice, or oatmeal for her grade-school kids. Much to my current dismay, she never served spelt as a rich and creamy hot cereal option. Nor did she attempt to use spelt flour in her prized pastries or cook a dish using spelt pasta at its base. With our food culture’s greater focus on ancient grains, the ways of consuming spelt are now numerous and nutritious.
A Historic Grain
Known by its Latin name, Triticum aestivum var. spelta, spelt is often confused with farro. Farro, along with spelt, arose from einkorn and goat grass crossbreeding in the Fertile Crescent region of the Middle East. Spelt is lighter and sweeter in taste than farro, which boasts a nuttier profile. The grain’s storied past is referenced in Exodus 9:22 as having survived a plague of hail because spelt ripens later. A verse from the Book of Ezekiel reads, “Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt; put them in a storage jar and use them to make bread for yourself. You are to eat it during the 390 days you lie on your side.” (The story describes something Ezekiel must do to warn the citizens of Jerusalem of a coming war, and it’s the origin of Ezekiel Bread’s moniker.)
Some accounts date the appearance of spelt to Mesopotamia in 3,000 B.C. where women gathered and crushed the grains, mixed them with water, and fired the mixture to make bread, earning spelt the distinction of being one of the first grains used to sustain the people of that region.
According to the University of Kentucky Center for Crop Diversification, spelt in more modern times is also a “subspecies of wheat that is primarily used as an alternative feed grain for livestock. It is generally grown for on-farm use, often as a substitute for oats. Most of the nation’s feed-grade spelt is grown in Ohio.” And in Kentucky, horses are known to perform well when fed spelt.
Mitchell Fusek, a spelt farmer in northeastern Ohio who started Fusek Flour with his father, encouraged me to research another topic regarding its history. “We’re finding many ways to spread the word about spelt, including tapping into the community that follows the life and work of St. Hildegard von Bingen, a Benedictine nun in Germany in the Middle Ages,” he says. Hildegard believed spelt’s components formed the basis of a healthy diet. Others also now consider this to be true because the integrity of spelt hasn’t been altered as much as that of wheat by modern farming and harvesting methods. But there are other reasons to add more spelt to your diet.
The website HealthyHildegard.com contains many highlights from the nun’s writings, including “spelt is warming.” The phrase implies that the grain is highly water-soluble, easy for the body to absorb the nutrients, freeing up bodily energy for other tasks. Spelt is a proper source of vitamins, including B-complex, which helps control metabolism of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. And at the Hildegard Institute in Germany, researchers have shown that spelt is easily tolerated in delicate digestive systems. Its gluten is distinct from modern wheat, and therefore easier to tolerate.
The grain is rich in mucopolysaccharides to aid in blood functioning. St. Hildegard claimed spelt forms “good blood and confers a cheerful disposition.” Given the wider spread use of spelt in bakeries and as substitutes for other wheat ingredients, Hildegard was probably right. Consumption of spelt provides a happy mind and joyful spirit.
Different from Wheat
In agricultural terms, spelt, also known as dinkel in Germany, is referred to as “covered wheat” or “hulled wheat,” which means kernels do not easily separate from the hull. Modern day wheat, with a heavier seed head, is easier to process and thus took over in popularity during the early 1900s. You’ll know the difference between wheat and spelt because spelt is taller with a deeper root system—important during climate extremes—and boasts a stronger hull, producing a thicker coating to protect its berries. Once dehulled, the spelt is made into flour.
French’s Hybrids, one of Ohio’s largest spelt seed suppliers, offers seeds for fall spelt, spring spelt, proprietary spelt, and grain feed. Many varietals of spelt seeds are sown in the fall and harvested during the following summer, while spring spelt has a very short growing season. Seed at French’s is harvested, aerated, and cooled. Once the lab samples are tested and cleared, spelt seeds are bagged for shipping to customers.
In our region, the most productive spelt is Oberkülmer, a Swiss cultivar, supposedly containing no wheat germ in its DNA. One might describe Oberkülmer as brown chaff with a large head and kernels. Another term used is “awnless,” meaning with no bristle-like appendage on a larger structure.
Spelt is a common rotational crop. Once ready for the planting, at Dresbach Farm in Chillicothe, OH, Joe and Marlene Dresbach employ regenerative practices to grow spelt and have it stone-milled into flour at a nearby mill. Along with family members, they work with other farmers, like Jon Branstrator of Branstrator Farm in Clarksville, OH, as part of a local heritage grain hub.
Mitch Fusek’s great-grandfather came from Slovakia to the U.S. at the age of 11. From the original 50 acres belonging to their great-grandfather, Mitch’s family inherited half. Now he and his dad keep the legacy going with the planting of two types of spelt: Oberkülmer, and the shorter Sungold. They’ve partnered with a family friend and chef in Boston to produce spelt pasta for the Sorriso Pasta Company using the Sungold varietal to make rigatoni and the Oberkülmer varietal for the fusilli shape. And he says, “we’re using all organic processes, but we’re not certified yet.”
Baking with Spelt Flour
When it comes to baking, spelt will produce a denser texture than wheat-based breads, though whole grain spelt flour and white flour can be substituted 1 : 1. When choosing between, say, einkorn wheat or spelt to bake bread, spelt will rise more quickly and create more spring.
Spelt grains in hot cereal or cold cereal flakes are a welcome addition to your morning ritual. The flakes also make a great garnish on salads and add protein to any breakfast smoothie. But don’t leave out spelt flour when it comes to making waffles and pancakes, muffins and scones, or to use cooked spelt berries as hearty embellishments in salads, vegetable bowls, and pastas.
The wisdom Mitch Fusek’s ancestors absorbed when working their farm is now seeded into his mindset and the family’s products. “People are looking to slow down, and therefore slow down their processes,” he says. Using only 4 acres now, they are just getting started, especially with their wholesale business. But they want to adapt slowly as well. “We’re just farmers. We want to stay that way.”
St. Hildegard would probably agree.
Cooking tips
A while ago, I toasted a cup of farro in a skillet over the stove before cooking it. I tried this method again with spelt berries. The toasting produces a lovely, charred flavor to bring out the sweetness and nuttiness of the grain. Once toasted, I follow Bob’s Red Mill’s recipe to cook the berries for an addition to any salad or bowl: Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil in a pot with salt. Add rinsed spelt berries, return to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-high and cook uncovered until soft, about 30 minutes. Drain off cooking water, then serve. Note: Berries will be cooked when tender to taste with a pearl appearance.
Local Spelt
Shagbark Seed & Mill Athens, OH
offers single-source, Ohio-grown, certified organic heirloom grains and dry beans, including Oberkülmer spelt cereal and flour
Branstrator Farm Clarksville, OH
spelt flour available at Madison’s at Findlay Market
Local Millers Westerville, OH
sources heirloom grains from Ohio farms and sells flour online for shipment via USPS; wholesale sales available
Fusek Flour Canfield, OH
offers Oberkülmer and Sungold spelt berries, flours, and pastas
Dresbach Farms Chillicothe, OH
sells spelt flour for shipping
Annette is a writer, teacher, and author of two memoirs, I’ll Be in the Car and I’ll Have Some of Yours. She is a second-generation Italian-American with roots in Calabria and Abruzzo. As a resident of Over-the-Rhine, she’s lucky enough to walk to Findlay Market twice in a day whenever she forgets an ingredient. Visit annettejwick.com to learn more.
