What started three years ago as a conversation about how to urge Greenmarket bakers to incorporate local flour into their baked goods has bloomed into a full-blown initiative to revitalize and sustainably scale up the production of grains in the Northeast. Since those initial talks, much has happened: new local grain growers have been identified, mills have been built, and steadily, a broader range of grains—from freekeh and spelt to emmer and wheat berries—are increasingly more available to Greenmarket bakers and Greenmarket shoppers alike.

In April, 2010, Greenmarket adapted a rule that all participating bakers must use at least 15% locally grown flour in their products—muffins from Bread Alone and whole wheat loaves from Not Just Rugelach now boast the added flavor, nutritional benefits, and a smaller carbon footprint inherent in their incorporation of flour ground from wheat that was grown closer to home.

Now the next phase of building demand for regionally grown grains kicks into gear: to educate eaters, home cooks, bakers, brewers, chefs, and distillers in New York City, Greenmarket/GrowNYC is sponsoring Grains Week, seven days of collaborative programming to promote the re-emergence of local grains in our regional food system.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Cooking demo: Buckwheat and Cornmeal Pancakes
10am-12pm at Greenpoint Greenmarket

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Rye Bread and Scandinavian Sandwiches at the New Amsterdam Market
11am–4pm at New Amsterdam Market (South St. btwn Beekman St. & Peck Slip)
A 21 foot long wooden table will be set with more than 10 varieties of smørrebrød created by visiting Danish chef Trina Hahnemann and local chefs Alejandro Alcocer of greenbrownorange; Caroline Fidanza of Saltie; Christophe Hille of Northern Spy Food Co.; Simo Kuusisto of Nordic Breads; and the team from Marlow and Daughters.  All  sandwiches will be made with rugbrød baked by Nordic Breads using regional grain grown and milled by Cayuga Pure Organics of Trumansburg, NY, and topped with regional ingredients, following the norms set by Chef Hahnemann.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Home Bakers Meet-up
6:30pm–8:30pm at The New Amsterdam Market School: 224 Front St.
Admission is free, but you must reserve a ticket in advance
Break bread with fellow bakers at the kick-off party for Grains Week! Admission to this bread-based gathering is a loaf of your favorite home baked bread and a copy of your recipe. Bakers of all experience levels are welcome to swap samples with fellow grain geeks, tell stories about overactive yeast, or share secrets on how to get a really crusty crust. Take a crack at cranking the Greenmarket butter churn, sample bread baked with flour from Greenmarket vendors, and bring your recipe and/or starter to trade with others.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

The Educated Eater: Regionally Grown Grain
6pm–8pm The New School, Wollman Hall: 65 West 11th St., 5th floor
Admission, free for students, $5 for general public 
You might weigh in heavily when it comes to your preference for butter, crisco, or lard in pie crusts, but do you ever wonder where the flour you use to roll out your perfect dough comes from, or how it might affect the quality of your pie? How would emmer pasta taste? What kind of home baked bread would locally grown spelt flour produce? In this edition of Greenmarket's quarterly panel discussion series, The Educated Eater, talk turns to regionally grown grain. Hear from a culinary historian, a grower, a miller, a baker, and a chef about the past, present, and future of grains grown in the Northeast. Greenmarket's June Russell moderates a discussion that explores the challenges and developments that will advance the availability and volume of local grains to the bakers, brewers, distillers, and chefs in our area.

Panelists:

Nathan Leamy—Watson Fellow, home baker and global grains expert
Greg Mol—Miller, Farmer Ground Flour
Anton Earnhardt—Grower, Lightning Tree Farm
Michael Anthony—Chef, Gramercy Tavern
June Russell, moderator—Farm Inspections Manager, Greenmarket

Tickets can be purchased at The New School box office, 212.229.5488 or boxoffice@newschool.edu. This event is co-sponsored by the Food Studies Program at The New School.

Chef Demonstration with Louisa Shafia 
9:30am–12pm Union Square Greenmarket
Louisa Shafia, author of Lucid Food: Cooking for an Eco-Conscious Life, demonstrates how to make Warm Wheat Berry and Cranberry Salad.

Chef Demonstration with Erin Fairbanks
12:30pm-3pm at Union Square Greenmarket
Chef Erin Fairbanks will demonstrate one of her favorite recipes that incorporates a local grain.

Friday, November 19

Chef Demonstration with Matthew Weingarten 
9:30am–12pm at Union Square Greenmarket
Matthew Weingarten, Executive Chef of Inside Park at St. Bart’s, demonstrates a favorite recipe that calls for local grains.

Chef Demonstration with Peter Hoffman
12:30-3pm at Union Square Greenmarket
Peter Hoffman, long-time Greenmarket champion and owner of Savoy and Back Forty, demonstrates a recipe that calls for spelt berries. 

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Bread Baking with Ancient Wheat
2pm-4pm at The Brooklyn Kitchen: 100 Frost St.
Admission, $40 - tickets available here
Join Eli Rogosa on a culinary journey through the history of wheat from einkorn domesticated in Mesopotamia and emmer used in the original matzah, to the evolution of wheat in early Europe and why gluten allergies are burgeoning today. Discover the earth-spirituality of early bakers, the role of bread and beer in ancient civilizations, and little-known Hebrew Goddess bread traditions. Participants will bake sourdough einkorn bagels made with einkorn malt, einkorn flatbread spiced with Jerusalem zataar, and sprouted einkorn bread. Visit to learn about the Heritage Wheat Conservancy's work to restore almost-extinct, high-nutrition ancient grains.

Taught by Eli Rogosa, artisan baker and biblical cuisine expert who coordinated the 'Restoring Ancient Wheat' cooperation of the Jordan, Palestine and Israeli genebanks. See growseed.org/wheat.html for more information.

Donations: All contributions to the Heritage Wheat Conservancy will support our partner-projects:
Wadi Fukin to establish a farmer seedbank to conserve their rare wheats, and Georgian Organic Farming Association 'Restoring Forgotten Crops'.

Chef Demonstration with Robin Puskas 
9:30am-12pm at Union Square Greenmarket
Chef Robin Puskas, owner of NY Kitchen Company demonstrates a favorite recipe using grains available from the Saturday vendors at the Union Square Greenmarket.

Chef Demonstration with the Natural Gourmet Institute for Health & Culinarty Arts 
12:30pm–3pm at Union Square Greenmarket
Students from the Natural Gourmet demonstrate how to prepare a recipe for Whole Oats ’n’ Apples.

"Roaming" Chef Demonstration with Marian Isel Barragán
11:30am - 2pm at Oak Grove Plantation stand (Union Square North & 17th St)
Holistic health counselor, Marian Isel Barragán, will demonstrate a recipe (and its health benefits!) made with Oak Grove’s ground grains. 

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Pancake Breakfast at the New Amsterdam Market
11am–1pm at New Amsterdam Market: South St. btwn Beekman St. & Peck Slip
Admission, $20 per plate [tickets]
We’ll be flipping flapjacks on Sunday morning, at the culmination of a very grainy week—join us for pancakes, grits, and sausage as the sun comes up over the East River. Sample buckwheat, spelt, and good old fashioned (white and whole wheat) pancakes with a helping of local cornmeal grits on the side. Breakfast sausage and maple syrup sweeten the deal. All proceeds benefit New Amsterdam Market, the Organic Growers' Research and Information-sharing Network, and The Heritage Wheat Conservancy.