Thursday, June 9, 2011

Ancient Hot Cereal

Beginning about 4000 BC, hot cereal was a favorite meal of the Incas, who inhabited South American’s west coast. Cook used quihuicha, a species of amaranth, to make a traditional meal.

Amaranth actually was an ancient grain eaten for centuries in central and South America. It can be cooked and eaten as a side dish or hot cereal.

Amaranth also once was a revered staple crop of the ancient Aztec culture. Its gelatinous texture makes it most suitable for use as hot cereal, puddings and spoon breads. It is the perhaps the most nutritious of all grains because it has such a s beneficial balance of amino acids in its protein, and an especially high lysine and tryptophan content.

For most Assyrians, bread or porridge and onions formed their basic diet. According to historical records, bread was sold by weight, rather than by the loaf.

However the term, ‘bread; may have meant any cooked flour So, for example it could include hot cereal made of barley or wheat similar to oatmeal or cream of wheat.

Early American settlers came mostly from the southern United States. Most of these early Texans ate a lot of of corn – fresh when it was in season, dried corn when it wasn’t in season and cornmeal at any time of year. Cornmeal was used to make a hot cereal called corn mush, a type of pancake often called johnnycakes.
Ancient Hot Cereal

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