Khorasan wheat

Blé de Khorasan

What it is

The story goes that an American airman carried a handful of kernels out of an Egyptian tomb in the late 1940s, which earned the grain its nickname of King Tut's wheat; a Cairo market stall is the likelier source. A Montana farmer revived it and trademarked it in 1990 as Kamut, so the same wheat now sells under a brand and under its own name at two prices.

In the kitchen

The kernel is twice the size of bread wheat, so soak it overnight and simmer it forty-five minutes. Its gluten is soft — hold it to half the flour weight in a loaf or the dough spreads instead of rising.

Goes with

Olive oil Lemon Parsley Chickpeas Pecorino Romano Tomato

Same species

Bulgur Couscous Einkorn Emmer wheat Wholemeal flour T45 flour

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