Freekeh

Freekeh is a cereal food made from green durum wheat that is harvested while the grain is still soft, sun-dried, then deliberately set alight so that only the straw and chaff burn, before being threshed, winnowed and sun-dried again for a uniform flavor, texture and color; its name comes from the Arabic farik, meaning rubbed, describing the removal of burnt chaff. The dish originates in the Levant and North Africa, where durum wheat itself was domesticated about 10,000 years ago, and remains popular across the eastern Mediterranean, appearing in pilafs, soups and poultry stuffing in Egypt, Syria, Tunisia, Algeria, Turkey, Palestine and Jordan. A 100-gram serving provides 339 calories, 14 grams of protein and 71 grams of carbohydrate, with substantial B vitamins, manganese and phosphorus.