Expert: Carl Hoseney - 11/2/2009

Question
I saw the question and answer from someone about a year and half ago regarding cream of buckwheat, but I couldn't tell what the answer regarding that particular grain actually was.  Is the buckwheat in Cream of Buckwheat the entire grain, or is part of it removed to make it cream of buckwheat?  If so, what part is removed?  Does cream of buckwheat have less fiber than, say, buckwheat kasha?  I can't find this answer ANYWHERE, and seems to me that it ought to be an easy question to answer....

Thanks!

Answer
Steven,
    There are no easy questions to answer, if so they would not be questions.
Buchwheat is a pseudocereal (which means it is not a cereal and not even a grass) it is also a dicot.  Thus there are 2 parts inside the generally black hull.  The hull is remove during harvesting and process just as it is in wheat and most other cereal.  The 2 parts remaining are used to make cream of buckwheat.  They are sometimes called kasha.

Carl