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Amazing Grains--A Macrobiotic Perspective
By: Warren S. Wepman
What is unique and different about grains that makes them amazing? Primarily, it is that grains are both the seed and the fruit of grass plants, and as such represent both the beginning and the end of the growing cycle. They are the most advanced form of plant life to have evolved on this planet.
On the macrobiotic diet it is recommended that you eat whole cereal grain every day. Fifty to sixty percent of dietary intake should be in the form of such grains.
In the western part of the world the use of wheat predominates, but barley, oats, rye, millet, buckwheat and rice are regularly included in the traditional diets of the people who inhabit Europe and the near east. In the far east rice is the staple grain, but the others mentioned are also well known and used frequently.
In the American hemisphere the indigenous grain was maize or corn.
Rice is the most balanced of the grains. It comes in many varieties: short grain, medium grain, and long grain. It also has strains called sweet rice, and basmati rice (from India) to name a few others. Wild rice is really the seed of another grass, and only distantly related to the other rices mentioned. However, they all grow well here and most of the rice available we eat is grown in the United States.
Wheat does not have an outer hull that needs to be milled off and can be cooked just as it grows on the stalk. Rice and some of the other grains are protected by an inedible outer hull that must be removed. Before that hull is removed rice can be stored almost indefinitely.
Brown rice makes up the central part of a macrobiotic diet recommended to create, support and sustain a healthy body. Brown rice is a grain that has had only the inedible outer hull removed, and has not been further polished. It differs from white rice, which is the same grain, but from which the bran and germ have been removed by polishing. The bran and germ are important parts of the cereal. What remains when it is polished off is the starch. When some one tells you that "rice is fattening" this is strictly true of polished, white rice, which is only the starchy part of the grain. With the fiber and germ intact brown rice is not fattening. In fact the fiber scours the bowels and intestines clean, while the rice germ provides nourishment.
The building blocks of the body are carbohydrates. These are manufactured from protein. Protein is made up of amino acids. There are numerous amino acids, eight of which are so called "essential" amino acids. These eight are so denominated because the body can manufacture all of the others from whatever foods stuffs it is furnished. However, one must eat foods containing the essential amino acids, as the system itself cannot manufacture them from other foods.
Six of those essential amino acids are found in large proportions in whole cereal grains. All traditional diets supplemented or complemented grains with either beans, seeds or nuts. This is so because these latter mentioned foods are high in the other two of the essential amino acids.
In addition, condiments included in the standard macrobiotic diet are prepared with seeds. Gomasio, ground sesame seeds combined with sea salt, when eaten with grain tastes very good. The satisfying taste of this combination of grain and seeds is not only because of the nutty, salty quality of the gomashio, but also because the body instinctively recognizes a whole protein and is satisfied with the food at a cellular level. This also explains the rice and bean dishes so popular in South and Central America, India and elsewhere.
My personal experience with the macrobiotic diet and eating fifty to sixty percent of my daily food consumption in whole cereal grains was a dramatic weight loss.
I did quit in the fall of 1976, and expected to gain fifty pounds. However, my guardian angel must have been looking out for me. In January 1977 my wife saw a poster on a telephone pole advertising a natural foods cooking class. It promised a diet of whole cereal grains, vegetables, beans, seeds, nuts, fruit and sea vegetables. In short it was a flyer for a series of macrobiotic cooking classes. I joined her.
In January of 1977 I began the most exciting adventure of my life: following the macrobiotic lifestyle.
Over the next 18 months from that date I lost 37 pounds, never missed a meal, and never was hungry. The food was delicious, filling and satisfying. It still is. So good was it that I began to cook for myself and along with Marquita. We have been doing so, even teaching others, since 1977, over 24 years now.
Whole cereal grains are made up of complex carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals, all in the ideal proportion to nourish human beings. Grains provide complex carbohydrates for energy, protein for cell replacement and repair, and minerals and vitamins for cell metabolism and immune strength. In addition grains provide the needed fiber, vitamins B and E and phosphorus to sustain life for the human body. They are nutritionally balanced as well as the most balanced of foodstuffs on the yin-yang spectrum.
Finally the oils and fats in grain are completely cholesterol free. Cholesterol is found only in animal food. Cereals have been the staple food of mankind from earliest days. In almost all cultures cereal grains have been the principle food.
The use of cereal grains is interwoven into the very matrix of civilization. It is conjectured that the methods developed by early man to record and inventory his stores of grain led to the invention of writing. The evolution from counting, that is number processing, to the development of the written word is the same as the evolution from number processing to word processing in modern computer technology.
Grain is simple to make. It is satisfying and sticks to your ribs. Here are some basic suggestions about cooking grains.
I have almost always cooked the larger grains, such as rice, barley, rye and wheat as whole grains in a pressure cooker.
After eliminating all of the foreign matter, rinse the grain. You will be surprised at the amount of dust that is washed off. If the grain is freshly hulled, for rice particularly, only one rinse will be sufficient. If the rice has been on the shelf for some time, then it may be necessary to rinse it several times, as the grain will
have oxidized a little bit and be "dustier".
Measuring the water is important also. The appropriate amount of water will vary with climatic conditions and from day to day. You will get a feel for the humidity as your practice with grain cookery deepens. Start with 1 ½ cups of water to 1 cup of grain. If the resultant dish is too soggy for your taste, reduce the amount of water in the next pot you cook.
However, I have developed a better measuring device, that works for me. It is described in detail in the book: A Man in the Kitchen, described below. I suggest you try it. Note, however, that more water is needed for cooking in a regular pot than is needed for cooking in a pressure cooker, as some of the water will steam out.
This method actually works for 2 cups of grain or 10 cups of grain. The time of cooking is also important. When I first prepared grain, I did so at my home or elsewhere which was at or about sea level. Forty five (45) minutes after it came up to pressure in the pressure cooker or came to a boil in the covered pot was just the right time for the grain to cook. When I moved to the mountains and cooked grain at 3,000 feet above sea level, I found had to cook the grain for fifty (50) minutes after it came up to pressure, or came to a boil, in order for the grain to be thoroughly cooked.
Finally, I do not add the salt until the water has come to a boil.
Current literature recently has recommended against high carbohydrate dishes, suggesting that they are hard to digest. The high carbohydrate foods eaten today in the standard modern diet are mostly short chain carbohydrates, such as processed grains like white rice, breads, cookies and crackers. These may be harder to digest than whole grains, which are long chain carbohydrate foods.
Experience has shown that soaking whole grains for 6 to 8 hours or longer before cooking makes them more easily digestible.
Recipes for the preparation of whole cereal grains and many other natural food products are found in the cookbook mentioned below.
Adapted from "A Man in the Kitchen" by Warren S. Wepman, a cookbook for men and for women who cook for men, published by One Peaceful World Press. This book can be purchased from the author. Send a check for $15.00 (includes postage and handling) to Warren Wepman 119 Stoney Fork Road, Barnardsville, NC 28709
Bio:
Warren Wepman has been married to Marquita Wepman for 38 years. They have practiced the macrobiotic lifestyle for more than 24 years and are both graduates of the Kushi Institute and members of the Macrobiotic Educators' Association (MEA.)
They reside at "Stoneycrest," 119 Stoney Fork Road, Barnardsville, NC. 28709, a rural suburb of Asheville in the western mountains of North Carolina where they act as directors of the Asheville Buncombe County Center for Health, Beauty and Peace, a macrobiotic learning center.
Together they currently teach macrobiotic cooking and lecture on a wide variety of macrobiotic subjects in North and South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia and elsewhere in the United States and, at their center, they offer dietary and lifestyle consultations.
On their forty-acre property they maintain STONEYCREST FARM where they grow organic vegetables.
The also operate the " DOJO AT STONEYCREST" a macrobiotic bed and breakfast, where accommodations and macrobiotic meals are available. Call (828) 626-3782 or fax (828) 626-3783 or email them at
warrenwep@mindspring.com for more information and a free brochure or visit their web site on the internet at
http://www.wnchome.com/stoneycrest/
Warren's cookbook "A Man in the Kitchen", published by One Peaceful World Press, and is is available from the author (send $15.00 (Includes tax, postage and handling)to 119 Stoney Fork Road, Barnardsville, NC 28709
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