Ingredients \ Spelt
What is Spelt?
Spelt grain breads and pastries can be found in more and more bakeries. The trend is even more pronounced in Europe. What is Spelt and what is going on? Spelt is an antique form of wheat; and in some cases it is also referred to as the Biblical wheat. In German it is called Dinkel, Farro in Italian, and many of the early European farmers also planted it in the Americas.
Spelt is wheat, but it belongs to the class of wheats described as "hulled wheats." There was a spontaneous mutation that occurred in this class of wheats, and the result was "free threshing wheat," or modern bread wheats. The hulled wheats are very difficult to dislodge from their hulls, and their baking characteristics are limited. Both of these facts when combined with the lower yield per acre discouraged farmers from committing their land to Spelt, and Spelt became an agricultural rarity during the last three hundred years.
Interestingly, more and more consumers are finding that they may be suffering from some type of wheat sensitivity. This sensitivity ranges from a severe allergic reaction to the gluten in wheat (celiac disease) to more subtle symptoms such as lethargy or a bloated feeling coupled with weight gain. New diets based on blood types (see Eating Right 4 Your Type) recommend that type O people avoid all modern wheat and eat only Spelt. In theory, it is the modern makeup of the bread wheat and its many stepped history of breeding and hybridization to improve yield and baking characteristics that may have created a gluten that is no longer friendly to some people's bodies. Because of the different balance of the amino acids, Spelt is readily digestible by many people who have stopped eating wheat. Whether you are wheat sensitive or whether you should only eat Spelt is a question that is best answered by a competent health professional. However, regardless of issues of wheat sensitivity many people have come to appreciate the rich, sweeter flavor or Spelt and have made it their grain of choice when they eat bread.
