Buckwheat is the boss of everything: why and which countries refuse to eat this product (7 photos)

It’s hard to imagine that somewhere in the CIS buckwheat is not perceived as a healthy product. However, in some countries this popular product has become a real gastronomic outcast. How is it that we prepare dozens of dishes from it, but in some places we are not familiar with it or use it to feed livestock?





You might think that buckwheat is a simple crop, but due to the geography of its consumption, it is still unclear where it actually comes from. Some researchers call its homeland China, while others believe that buckwheat came to this country from India and Nepal. In any case, already 5 thousand years ago, buckwheat was in the human diet. It appeared among the Byzantine Slavs in the 7th century, and it was they who gave it the name buckwheat, cultivating it near monasteries.



China has been the leader in buckwheat production for many years. But it is worth noting that, despite high demand, the process of growing cereals cannot be called easy, because many conditions must be met. In particular, buckwheat does not tolerate chemical fertilizers.





For the countries of the former CIS, buckwheat is an indispensable side dish, healthy, rich in iron and vitamins. In Asian countries, flour for Soba is made from cereals, and in China they also make tea from cereals. The French from Brittany also do not refuse this product, preferring to make buckwheat pancakes and bread from it.

But Israel can boast of such a strange dish as varnishkes, reminiscent of dumplings. True, it consists of onions, herbs, buckwheat and pasta. This concludes the list of countries that eat buckwheat in one form or another.



The rest of the French, Belgians and Spaniards call it “Arab culture”, the Germans - “pagan plant”, and the Italians and Greeks - “Turkish grain”. Each of these names is traced with distrust, so it is not surprising that only livestock are fed buckwheat there.



Some Europeans still eat it, albeit in green form. By the way, such a product can also be found in our stores in the “Healthy lifestyle products” department. But the reason for abandoning buckwheat, which is classical in our understanding, is still not in the names, but in the fact that the countries mentioned simply do not grow it for themselves.



This is due to the fact that this is a very whimsical and not very fruitful crop. It requires nutrients, which is why the soil cannot be treated with anything. And after harvesting, the land must stand for one season and be replenished.

The easiest way to see how unfruitful buckwheat is is to compare it with wheat. There are about 80 centners of wheat per hectare, while buckwheat is only 10. That is why buckwheat is grown in European countries to feed livestock, so that the meat tastes better and can be sold at a higher price.

You can treat buckwheat as you like, but for European agriculture it is a very expensive product, in some regions it is 8 times more expensive than wheat. But, fortunately, the CIS countries are not very worried about these problems, because we always have enough of this product.