Freekeh
 | |
| Course | Main |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Jordan, Iraq, Palestine, Egypt, Israel and Syria |
| Region or state | Jordan, Palestine, Egypt , Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Iraq |
| Main ingredients | Green wheat |
Freekeh (sometimes spelled frikeh) or farik (Template:Lang-ar / ALA-LC: farīkah) (pronounced free-kah) is a cereal food made from green wheat that goes through a roasting process. It is an ancient Arabian dish that is especially popular in Levantine, Arabian Peninsulan, Jordanian and Egyptian cuisine, but also in North African and other neighboring cuisines.[1][2]
The wheat is harvested while the grains are yellow and the seeds are still soft; it is then piled and sun-dried. The piles are carefully set on fire so only the straw and chaff burn and not the seeds. The high moisture content of the seeds prevents them from burning. The now roasted wheat undergoes further threshing and sun-drying to make the flavor, texture, and color uniform. This threshing or rubbing process of the grains gives this food its name, farīk or “rubbed”. The seeds are then cracked into smaller pieces so they look like a green bulgur.[1]
History
Freekeh is mentioned in an early 13th-century Baghdad cook book as farīkiyya.[1] In that recipe, meat is fried in oil and braised with water, salt, and cinnamon bark. Then, dried coriander is stirred in with young wheat ("freekeh") and is cooked. Finally, the meal is served with cumin, cinnamon, and fresh lamb tail fat.[1]
In Egypt, freekeh is served as ḥamām bi’l-farīk (pigeon stuffed with green wheat). Freekeh is also prepared in Egypt with onion and tomato, and sometimes with chicken. Shūrbat farīk bi’l-mukh is a freekeh and bone marrow soup from Tunisia. Freeket lahma, a green wheat pilaf dish with roasted lamb, spring peas, and pine nuts, comes from Jordan, and shūrba al-farīk is a Jordanian cuisine soup with green wheat and chicken.[1]
In Syria, freekeh is usually prepared with lamb, onion, butter, almonds, black pepper, cinnamon, cumin, and salt. In Israel, it is eaten in some region as part of a Hamin stew along with chicken, tomatoes, potatoes, red chili peppers and beans. In Jordan (Druze in Jordan), Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine, traditional Druze populations still make freekeh in the old ways.
Nutritional value
| Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 1,418 kJ (339 kcal) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
71 g | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2.5 g | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
14 g | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other constituents | Quantity | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| selenium | 89 ug | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| water | 11 g | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| †Percentages estimated using US recommendations for adults,[3] except for potassium, which is estimated based on expert recommendation from the National Academies.[4] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Freekeh's nutritional attributes are comparable to other cereal grains, especially durum wheat from which it is derived, depending on the durum cultivar.[1][5] Durum is notable for its high contents (more than 19% of the Daily Value, DV) of protein, dietary fiber, B vitamins and several dietary minerals, especially manganese (143% DV) (table). Before roasting, freekeh is 11% water, 71% carbohydrates, 2.5% fat and 14% protein (table).
Baking or roasting wheat, as done in the preparation of freekeh, substantially reduces these nutrient contents [citation needed] (roasted durum or freekeh nutrient data are not available; example, amaranth nutrition).
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f Freekeh - Farik - Green Wheat Clifford A. Wright.
- ^ Anissa Helou, "Freekeh", in Alan Davidson, ed., The Oxford Companion to Food
- ^ United States Food and Drug Administration (2024). "Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels". FDA. Archived from the original on 2024-03-27. Retrieved 2024-03-28.
- ^ National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health and Medicine Division; Food and Nutrition Board; Committee to Review the Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium (2019). "Chapter 4: Potassium: Dietary Reference Intakes for Adequacy". In Oria, Maria; Harrison, Meghan; Stallings, Virginia A. (eds.). Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium. The National Academies Collection: Reports funded by National Institutes of Health. Washington, DC: National Academies Press (US). pp. 120–121. doi:10.17226/25353. ISBN 978-0-309-48834-1. PMID 30844154. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
- ^ Velland E (14 July 2015). "Grilled Halloumi and Freekeh Salad". The Globe and Mail, Food and Wine, Toronto.
