Buckwheat is a staple food in parts of China, Korea, and Nepal. In the Himalayan region, buckwheat is used to make chillare, chillare, a flatbread, as well as fritter-like pakoras and sweets. In northern Italy, it's mixed with wheat to make flat noodles called a flatbread, as well as fritter-like pakoras and sweets. In northern Italy, it's mixed with wheat to make flat noodles called pizzoccheri, pizzoccheri, and mixed with corn meal in polenta. In Russia it's used to make the small pancakes called blini; and whole groats are toasted to make the nutty-tasting porridge kasha. In Brittany it produces distinctive crepes. The j.a.panese make and mixed with corn meal in polenta. In Russia it's used to make the small pancakes called blini; and whole groats are toasted to make the nutty-tasting porridge kasha. In Brittany it produces distinctive crepes. The j.a.panese make soba, soba, buckwheat noodles. In the United States it's most often encountered in pancakes, to which it contributes tenderness and a nutty aroma. buckwheat noodles. In the United States it's most often encountered in pancakes, to which it contributes tenderness and a nutty aroma.

Quinoa Quinoa is a native of northern South America, was domesticated near Lake t.i.ticaca in the Andes around 5000 Quinoa is a native of northern South America, was domesticated near Lake t.i.ticaca in the Andes around 5000 BCE BCE, and was a staple food of the Incas, second in importance only to the potato. Chenopodium quinoa Chenopodium quinoa is in the same family as beets and spinach. The grains are small yellow spheres between 1 and 3 mm across. The outer pericarp of many quinoa varieties contains bitter defensive compounds called saponins, which can be removed by brief washing and rubbing in cold water (prolonged soaking deposits saponins within the seed). Quinoa can be cooked like rice or added to soups and other liquid dishes; it's also popped, and is ground and made into a variety of flatbreads. is in the same family as beets and spinach. The grains are small yellow spheres between 1 and 3 mm across. The outer pericarp of many quinoa varieties contains bitter defensive compounds called saponins, which can be removed by brief washing and rubbing in cold water (prolonged soaking deposits saponins within the seed). Quinoa can be cooked like rice or added to soups and other liquid dishes; it's also popped, and is ground and made into a variety of flatbreads.

Legumes: Beans and Peas Beans and peas belong to the third largest family among the flowering plants (after the orchid and daisy families), and the second most important family in the human diet, after the gra.s.ses. The distinctive contribution of the legumes is their high content of protein, two to three times that of wheat and rice, which they develop thanks to their symbiosis with certain soil bacteria. Species of Rhizobium Rhizobium bacteria invade the roots of legume plants and convert abundant nitrogen in the air into a form that the plant can use directly to make amino acids and thus proteins. Legumes have long been an essential alternative to protein-rich but more costly animal foods, and are especially prominent in the foods of Asia, Central and South America, and the Mediterranean. A remarkable sign of their status in the ancient world is the fact that each of the four major legumes known to Rome lent its name to a prominent Roman family: Fabius comes from the fava bean, Lentulus from the lentil, Piso from the pea, and Cicero - most distinguished of them all - from the chick pea. No other food group has been so honored! bacteria invade the roots of legume plants and convert abundant nitrogen in the air into a form that the plant can use directly to make amino acids and thus proteins. Legumes have long been an essential alternative to protein-rich but more costly animal foods, and are especially prominent in the foods of Asia, Central and South America, and the Mediterranean. A remarkable sign of their status in the ancient world is the fact that each of the four major legumes known to Rome lent its name to a prominent Roman family: Fabius comes from the fava bean, Lentulus from the lentil, Piso from the pea, and Cicero - most distinguished of them all - from the chick pea. No other food group has been so honored!

There are about 20 different species of legume cultivated on a large scale (see box, p. 484). The oil crops, soybean and peanut, far outdistance the legumes eaten more or less whole; the oils are used industrially as well as in the kitchen, and soybeans are a major livestock feed in the United States.

Legume Structure and Composition Legume seeds consist of an embryonic plant surrounded by a protective seed coat. The embryo in turn is made up of two large storage leaves, the cotyledons, together with a tiny stem. The cotyledons provide the bulk of the nourishment, as the endosperm does in the grains. In fact, the cotyledons are actually a transformed endosperm. When pollen joins ovule in the process of fertilization, both an embryo and a primitive nutritional tissue, the endosperm, are formed. In the grains, the endosperm develops along with the embryo and remains the storage organ of the mature fruit. But in the legumes, the endosperm is absorbed by the embryo, which repackages the nutrients in its cotyledons.

Some Common Beans and Peas

Common Name

Scientific Name Scientific Name

Natives of Europe and Southwest Asia

Chickpea, garbanzo, bengal gram

Cicer arietinum Cicer arietinum

Lentil, masoor dal

Lens culinaris Lens culinaris

Pea

Pisum sativum Pisum sativum

Fava bean, broad bean

Vicia faba Vicia faba

Lupine

Lupinus Lupinus species species

Alfalfa

Medicago sativa Medicago sativa

Natives of India and East Asia

Soybean

Glycine max Glycine max

Mung bean, green/golden gram

Vigna radiata Vigna radiata

Black gram, urad dal

Vigna mungo Vigna mungo

Azuki bean

Vigna acutifolia Vigna acutifolia

Rice bean

Vigna umbellata Vigna umbellata

Moth bean

Vigna aconitifolia Vigna aconitifolia

Pigeon pea, red gram

Caja.n.u.s cajan Caja.n.u.s cajan

Lathyrus, vetch, khesari dal

Lathyrus sativus Lathyrus sativus

Hyacinth bean

Lablab purpureus Lablab purpureus

Winged bean

Psophocarpus tetragonolobus Psophocarpus tetragonolobus

Natives of Africa

Black-eyed pea, cowpea, crowder

Vigna unguiculata Vigna unguiculata

Bambara groundnut

Vigna subterranea Vigna subterranea

Natives of Central and South America

Bean, common bean, haricot, etc.

Phaseolus vulgaris Phaseolus vulgaris