Next Week Is Grains Week

bernat/Flickr

While the idea of local fruits and vegetables is now firmly entrenched in the collective conscience, the concept of local grains is still relatively novel -- it's easy enough to picture an upstate apple orchard, but less so to imagine a wheat field that isn't in Iowa or Kansas.

Since April, when it mandated that its bakers must use 15 percent locally grown flour in their products, the Greenmarket has been trying to remedy this association, or lack thereof. Beginning this Sunday, the organization will turn its attention to home cooks and bakers with Grains Week, a seven-day roster of cooking demonstrations, lectures, and baker meet-ups.

Among the scheduled events are this Sunday's smørrebrød tasting at the New Amsterdam Market, chef demos with the likes of Matt Weingarten and Peter Hoffman, and an educated-eater panel discussion. We're particularly partial to the description of a "bread baking with ancient wheat" class at the Brooklyn Kitchen, which entails a history lesson, breads from the obscure Hebrew Goddess tradition, and einkorn wheat, a grain that traces its lineage all the way back to the original matzoh.

The week's events will culminate with a pancake breakfast at next Sunday's New Amsterdam Market; a portion of the $20 tickets will benefit, appropriately, the Heritage Wheat Conservancy.

Have a tip or restaurant-related news? Send it to fork@villagevoice.com.