Street Foods - Chapter 5: Grains, Legumes, Noodles, and Bread

Street FoodsChapter 5: Grains, Legumes, Noodles, and BreadLearning ObjectivesDiscuss the history of the preparation and consumption of grains, legumes, noodles and bread.Discuss familiar techniques and cooking methods for grains, legumes, noodles and bread.Identify different grains and legumes.Define and describe the characteristics and applications of grains, legumes, noodles and bread.GrainsGrains, edible seeds of cereal plants, are our most important food crop.The unique characteristics of each variety lead to distinct applications and preparations, including milling, sprouting, parching, fermenting, baking, or simply cooking in liquid.Today’s most common grains are corn, rice, wheat, barley, sorghum, millet, oat, and rye. Others, of mostly regional or nutritional significance, include buckwheat, quinoa, teff, and amaranth.Rice, today the chief food source for more than half the world’s population, is able to grow in the tropical and semi-tropical regions.LegumesLegumes or pulses, the seeds of pod-bearing, leguminous plants include beans, peas, and lentils.Their proteins are, in most cases, incomplete. Many cuisines have created dishes combining grains and legumes with complementary nutritional profiles.Hard and dry legumes are often soaked in water before cooking.To take advantage of legumes’ high starch content, applying dry-heat cooking methods can result in interesting dishes, such as falafel.Edible raw, or after only brief cooking, immature legumes are sold as green beans, edamame, green chickpeas, snow peas, or sugar snap peas.NoodlesFound in many cultures, they are the perfect vehicle for almost any accompaniment.All noodles need to be cooked in a generous amount of water to prevent sticking, and fresh noodles cook significantly faster than their dried counterparts.Ideally, all noodles are finished and served immediately after cooking.Italian pasta is best tossed in a small amount of oil, and most Asian noodles can be rinsed in water to remove excess starch.BreadOnly a few foods exemplify our culinary ingenuity like bread.Transforming solid, bland, and gritty seeds into aromatic, sometimes fluffy loaves, disks, or rolls suggests aspiration, skill, and inventiveness.Today, almost all culinary cultures embrace bread, even those where bread was not an indigenous element.A perfect intermediary for limitless toppings, condiments, and fillings, bread’s service to the street food scene is immeasurable.