The Gleaners Trivia Quiz

Answer: corn

(CORN)ering

Cole Porter wrote the song "Always True to You in My Fashion" for the Broadway musical "Kiss Me, Kate". One of its best-known recordings was by Ella Fitzgerald in 1956. The phrase 'cornering the corn' in the song alludes to the practice of speculators buying controlling shares in a commodity and then using their position to manipulate prices.

Corn originated in Mexico between 7,000 and 10,000 years ago. It is the most widely-grown grain in the world, with over 1,130 million metric tons produced in the 2018/2019 marketing year. The USA and China are, by far, the largest producers. In addition to human and livestock consumption, corn and its byproducts have a wide range of uses, from fireworks and glue to cosmetics and plastic.

Answer: rice

Mau(RICE)

Gumbo is one of the best-known Louisiana dishes. Cajun gumbo tends to be thicker and includes chicken and other fowl, as well as sausage. Creole gumbo uses a tomato base and more seafood. Both are usually served over rice.

Rice, which originated in Asia, is one of the world's most important food staples. Over 490 million metric tons were consumed globally in the market year ending in 2019, about 30% of that in China alone. Uncooked brown rice, which is rice in its natural form, has a storage life of three to six months. White rice, which is brown rice that has had its fibrous outer bran layer removed, remains edible for between 10 and 30 years. What is the difference? The outer bran layer contains unsaturated fats that oxidize or react with air, accelerating spoilage.

Answer: oats

b(OATS)

When the 363 mile-long Erie Canal opened in 1825, it linked Lake Erie and the Midwest to the markets of New York, with wooden canal boats carrying commodities such as lumber, butter, cheese, flour, wheat and oats. With its opening, merchandise transport costs lowered more than sevenfold. Nine years later the Ohio-Erie canal opened. It was along this latter canal that Ferdinand Schumacher, known as the Oatmeal King, started a mill to produce oatmeal. His company, the German Mills American Cereal Company, was one of four that merged in 1901 to become the Quaker Oats Company, one of the best-known cereal companies in the USA.

Oats, believed to have originated in the Near East, are considered to be one of the healthiest grains. Positive benefits linked with the consumption of oats range from reduced cholesterol and decreased risk of heart disease to improved immune functions and lower risk of type 2 diabetes.

Answer: bulgur

Istan(BUL GUR)nard

Gurnard are fish long discarded by the fishing industry as undesirable. Some sources estimate that up to 20% worldwide of the fish caught in nets are thrown back, most of which do not survive. The move toward sustainable fishing is bringing more of these to the table. Bottom feeders, gurnard eat mainly worms and small crustaceans. There are several varieties, among them yellow, red and grey. Yellow gurnard or tubfish have long been found in the French fish soup bouillabaisse. Red gurnard, found in many parts of the world, are the ones included in the Turkish soup Balik Corbasi.

Bulgur, a cracked form of wheat that is parboiled and dried, was developed approximately 4,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent around the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Bulgur has a higher protein, vitamin and fibre content than most wheat products because it is not ground during production, only lightly crushed after cooking and drying to remove the outer hull.

Answer: spelt

storm(S PELT)ed

According to the biblical passage, spelt and wheat were spared the seventh plague because they were planted later than barley and flax. This infers that spelt and wheat would still have been in the young seedling/sprout phase of growth and therefore would have been better able to bounce back from hail damage.

Spelt is a variety of wheat that has existed since the Bronze Age. Its cultivation began roughly at the same time in what is now Iran and in Southeastern Europe. By the Middle Ages, it was one of the primary grains used for breadmaking in Western Europe. Pliny the Elder cited spelt among the grains used for Roman bread and historians have found evidence that ancient Romans also used spelt for porridges, thickening sauces, and making desserts. Over the centuries spelt fell out of favour, because it required longer milling time than many of the softer grains. In recent years, spelt has regained some popularity, particularly in organic farming, because its hard exterior provides greater protection from weather, pollution and pests.

Answer: Farro

a(FAR RO)und

Maria Speck is a German food writer, one of a growing number promoting the use of whole ancient grains in modern cooking. More farmers, chefs, cookbook authors, and health experts throughout Europe and North America are incorporating these older grains in bread and other dishes. Emmer, one of the main varieties of farro, has long been used in Italian cooking, particularly in Tuscany. Another type, einkorn, has been grown in the south of France since 9000 BC. It continues to be produced in the Provence region, where one small village holds an annual Einkorn Gastronomical Festival. The grain was prized because it could thrive in high rugged terrains. In stores, farro comes in one of three forms: whole, pearled (with the husk and bran layer removed) and semi-pearled (with only the outer husk removed).

Answer: rye

distille(RY E)xpanded

George Washington was not only the first president of the USA, in the last years of his life, he also operated one of the largest distilleries in the country. His whisky, distilled by his Scottish farm manager and slave labourers, was a blend of rye, corn and barley. Rye whisky largely disappeared in the USA after Prohibition but has reemerged on a small scale in recent years.

Rye originated in Southwestern Asia, and archaeologists have found wild rye grains in Neolithic sites in Central Europe. Rye production was roughly 10.5 million metric tons in the 2018/2019 market year, with the European Union, Russia and Belarus being among the largest producers. Rye is used as a winter cover crop by some organic farmers because its deep-growing roots help to protect and nourish the soil.

Answer: wheat

slo(w heat)

Wheat, which supplies up to 20% of the calories consumed worldwide, is less resistant than some other grains. Scientists have warned that global warming may dramatically reduce wheat yields in the coming years because of increased temperatures and drought and increased pest damage. Estimates for some wheat-producing countries are even higher. For example, a study by the Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) has suggested that wheat production in India will decline up to 23% by 2050.

One of the current dietary debates centring on wheat and other grains, such as barley and rye, is the impact of gluten. Gluten is the protein complex in bread which helps it rise and gives it its chewy texture. Celiac disease, an autoimmune disease which reacts to gluten, affects about 1% of the population in the USA. Similar percentages have been noted in British and other European studies. Celiac disease is not new; the Greek physician Aretaeus Of Cappadocia identified and named it in the 2nd Century AD. In addition to Celiac disease, some people are gluten sensitive, while others have wheat allergies. Some recent studies are beginning to suggest that for the latter two groups, it may not be gluten, but FODMAPS in wheat that are the problem. FODMAPS are groups of sugars not wholly digested or absorbed in the intestine. Others are suggesting that modern processing methods may be contributing to the rise in wheat sensitivities.

Answer: teff

paten(T EFF)ectively

Teff is considered part of the cultural heritage of Ethiopia, where it originated between 4000 BC and 1000 BC. According to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, teff represents roughly 2/3 of total protein intake in the country. Teff is used in the spongy sourdough flatbread or pancake that is Ethiopia's national dish.

A Dutch company applied for teff patents in 2003 and then signed a deal with the Ethiopian government two years later to share the profits. In 2009, the Dutch company went bankrupt, and the entrepreneurs involved purchased the patents and began working with another company formed just before the bankruptcy, effectively shutting out the Ethiopian government. In 2014, this new company charged with copyright infringement another company baking bread with teff imported directly from Ethiopia. In 2018, the Dutch courts declared the patents illegal, saying that the combining of the flours was general knowledge, not something invented. At the time of the decision, similar patents were still in effect in several other European countries, but it was a positive first step for Ethiopians.

Answer: millet

wind(MILL ET)ching

The consumption of millet dates back at least to the Bronze Age, but some archaeobotanists have suggested its origins are in the Neolithic period. It was a major food staple medieval Europe, eaten both in bread and porridges. There are several kinds of millet: sorghum, finger millet, foxtail millet, pearl millet, barnyard millet, little millet, and proso millet.

It is appropriate to end with this grain because it is the last name of the artist who painted "The Gleaners", which inspired this quiz. The painting shows women working in a field to glean stalks of wheat left behind after the harvest. Jean-François Millet (1814-1875) was from an agrarian family and often included peasants in his works.