Semolina

"Semolina is no grain at all but the roughly milled endosperm or (or nutritive tissue) of durum wheat. And this wheat (Triticum durum) is the hardest in the world." Bert Greene"

"the semolina that does not end up as a twirl of spaghetti will most probably find itself converted into a pile of golden couscous in some North African household."

Bert Greene

We used to have semolina pudding at school. It was horrible, though not quite as horrible as tapioca pudding which we called 'frog's spawn'. But then rice pudding at school was also horrible and completely different from the delicious rice pudding we had at home. So maybe I have been unkind to semolina pudding.

I looked on the net and of course found various recipes for semolina pudding - like the one on the left from Gourmet Traveller, that somehow are able to make it look good. I don't know that it has become particularly fashionable as yet though, and I don't think I'm particularly tempted. In fact I think the dreaded tapioca is rather more fashionable in certain circles. I gather there are lots of Middle-Eastern and Eastern European versions of the semolina pudding, but no - it all looks a bit too gloopy for me.

But while we area on desserts, now semolina syrup cakes are pretty nice. I think I have even made at least one in my time. They're a bit like those almond cakes but lighter. It may even have been this one that I made.

But back to what semolina is. Yes - it's basically wheat and it dates back thousands and thousands of years. Wikipedia says the name comes from the Italian 'semola' meaning bran, which in turn is derived from the Latin 'simila' meaning flour. Bert Greene has a rather more entertaining theory though:

"The Latin word for what we call semolina was semideus - literally 'demi-god', though some semolina lovers insist that 'food of the gods' is what the Romans really had in mind." Bert Greene

I think Wikipedia is more correct, but it's a nice idea and when you look at that very light cake you can see why he might have wanted to think of it as 'food of the gods'.

Why am I quoting Bert Greene - he of Greene on Greens - one of my favourite cook books? Well the other book I have of his, which I confess I don't use as much is The Grains Cookbook, which was way ahead of its time really - it was written back in 1988 and praises all grains, including those very trendy ones like Quinoa, Amaranth and Triticale. No Freekeh though. I definitely should use it more. The chapter on semolina has a really wide variety of recipes - soup, cakes, gnocchi, pasta, couscous, soufflé, tarts and stews. He was the first place I went to bone up on semolina and I was not disappointed. Greg Malouf and Robert Carrier were my second sources - these two for the couscous aspect.

According to Bert Green there are three main types of semolina that you can buy"

"Durum semolina is the most commonly known. It is used for the manufacture of commercially dried pasta and commercially produced couscous. This semolina is a sandy substance, pale yellow in colour and highly granular, if you rub it between your fingers. It contains an extraordinarily heigh percentage of gluten, which is what makes a spaghetti strand stretch, not break apart in the cooking process.

Granular semolina is simply a lower-graded mulling of the wheat, with the crushed endosperm thinned out with flour.

Semolina flour is not to be confused with durum flour. The latter is a powdery residue left over after the pressing of semolina. Semolina flour is a super fine grind of flour produced for cooking and baking only."

Couscous, which deserves a post all of its own is traditionally made by hand from hard durum semolina which is "moistened with water and a fine coating of flour, then rolled back and forth onto itself until tiny pellets are formed." It requires vast amounts of patience, time and skill, so it's no wonder that most of us buy the instant kind in packets. Below is a picture of the two - instant on the left, hand made on the right.

I gather there is a world of difference, and I'm sure that some Middle-Eastern restaurants do make their own - like this guy below:

Maybe he's French. It's almost a French national dish these days.

But I will write about couscous another time.

It is nutritious - all sorts of minerals and vitamins and also high in protein and carbohydrate of course, but no fat or sugar. So good. Unless you are one of those gluten intolerant people:

"It has a high gluten content, which gives it that wonderful, robust nature and stops it breaking down into a starchy paste during cooking. This helps create a light texture while retaining a distinct bite. " Yotam Ottolenghi

Nigella coats potatoes with it before roasting, some kinds of gnocchi are made with semolina as well as the pasta, Yotam Ottolenghi makes a porridge on which he places temptingly cooked veggies and Jamie has some rather weird tiny dumplings - a bit like a cross between knödlen and couscous.