Amaranth

Amarante

What it is

Aztec priests bound ground amaranth with honey into figures of Huitzilopochtli that worshippers then ate, and the Spanish, reading this as a mockery of communion, banned the crop outright after 1521. The same popped seed and syrup is still sold in Mexico as alegría.

In the kitchen

Pop it dry, a tablespoon at a time in a very hot covered pan — any more and the bottom layer burns before the top goes. Boiled at one part seed to three of water it never fluffs up: it goes sticky and porridge-like, which is exactly what it is for.

Goes with

Honey Molasses Pumpkin seed Cocoa nibs Corn Dark chocolate

Same species

Red amaranth leaf

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