Buckwheat

Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) is a flowering plant in the family Polygonaceae, the same family as sorrel and rhubarb — not a member of the grass family, so despite culinary appearances it is not a true cereal grain. Its starchy seeds are cooked and eaten like a grain, which is why it is classed as a pseudocereal. It is naturally gluten-free. Buckwheat was domesticated in inland Southeast Asia around 6000 BC, most likely in the western Yunnan region of China; buckwheat pollen appears in Japan by about 4000 BC and remains in China from roughly 2600 BC. It remains an important crop in the temperate world: as of 2024 Russia led global production at about 980,000 tonnes (roughly half the world total), followed by China and Ukraine. In the kitchen, hulled roasted buckwheat groats are the basis of kasha, a porridge often described as a definitive Eastern European peasant dish, and buckwheat also turns up in Japanese soba noodles, Northern Italian pizzoccheri pasta, and pancakes and blini. Cooked buckwheat is the foundation of patties such as grechaniki. Nutritionally, raw buckwheat is roughly 72% carbohydrate, 13% protein, and 3% fat (about 343 kcal per 100 g), is rich in minerals such as copper, magnesium, and manganese, and contains the phytochemical rutin. Its Slavic name (Russian grechka, Ukrainian hrechka) reflects an old association with the Greeks, and it carries strong cultural weight in Russian Orthodox tradition as a fasting-permitted staple.