|||
Khorosan (latin name: Triticum turgidum, but also known as Kamut) is an ancient wheat grain that most likely originated from the Fertile Crescent. Khorosan plants grow to around 2 metres, compared with common wheat — Triticum aestivum — which grows to between 60 and 120 cm. That height means Khorosan shades out weeds and will happily grow anywhere. But being tall also means it’s not so machine friendly and is difficult to harvest and thresh.
The grains (or berries) are large — 3x the size of a common wheat berry – and have a golden yellow hue.
When milled they produce a gentle buttery yellow flour.
Khorosan is very high in protein (12-18%) which means it will gulp water when you ferment dough with it. But fermenting dough is not something I’ve done with it yet!
It hasn’t been so easy finding Khorosan berries and they are not cheap. But I finally got some this week and this weekend I will mix it with some wholemeal wheat flour and some high extraction wheat flour, and perhaps I’ll hydrate the loaves at 80-85%. Let’s see.
I’ll post some photos after Monday. Fingers crossed.
