In my last blog post I talked about France being the land of croissants and baguettes. Well, it turns out France is actually the land of quinoa these days. Coming home on Air France I was even served a quinoa salad in coach class – you can see it here, right on my tray table.

How else do I know quinoa is hot in France? I walked into one of the Left Bank’s largest bookstores and looked for French books on whole grains. I was unable to find anything like the wonderful selection of whole grain cookbooks now available in the U.S. In fact, I found only four books on whole grains – and three of them were about quinoa. One was even called “Une graine sacrée – le quinoa” (“A sacred grain/seed – the quinoa”). (Click here to see quinoa books on amazon.fr.)

On my last night in France, I enjoyed the hospitality of talented chef, cookbook author and longtime Oldways friend Susan Hermann Loomis, at her home in Louviers, where she runs her cooking school called On Rue Tatin. And what did Susan serve for dinner? Mais oui! Quinoa.

Quinoa, as you may know, is actually what’s called a pseudo-grain. Although botanically it’s not a cereal grain, it’s considered a whole grain in the U.S. Denmark, however, has decided not to include quinoa, buckwheat, or amaranth – all pseudo-cereals – in its upcoming whole grains campaign. The bottom line? No matter how you classify quinoa, it’s a tasty and healthy food. (Cynthia)


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