Buckwheat is a plant with an ancient history but not many people know much about it. First grown thousands of years ago in China and Japan, buckwheat was taken to Russia, from Asia to Europe by The Crusaders (who got it from the Saracens), and then in the 17th Century, the early settlers carried the plants, on board their ships, to America.. An early photo showing a group of farmers threshing Buckwheat in the Catskill Mountains of the USA. Click on the photo for a larger view. Contrary to its name, buckwheat is not a wheat. The plant is more bush-like than the tall slender stalks of most grains. It is a member of the Polygonaceace family along with dock, sorrel, bindweed and knotweed. Buckwheat is also closely related to rhubarb. Buckwheat is well known for its hardiness and overall ability to thrive in even very poor conditions. The name evolved because the nut or fruit of the plant is three-sided in form, with sharp angles, resembling the triangular Beech-nut, hence the name of the plant, Buckwheat, which comes from the Dutch name Boek-weit meaning “Beech-wheat”. The Dutch not only gave the plant the name "buckwheat", they apparently first brought it to America, to the Hudson River Valley in what is now New York state. Half the buckwheat grown in the USA is grown in this state today. Around this time buckwheat also first found its way onto the table of the French Canadian pioneers who ate "galettes de sarrasin" - buckwheat pancakes. The Buckwheat flower (Polygonum fagopyrum) Buckwheat flour can be mixed with wheat flours and used for bread, but is more often cooked as cakes and pancakes, usually eaten with maple syrup as breakfast cakes. Buckwheat flour is also baked into crumpets, which are popular among Dutch children and are said to be nutritious and easily digested. Buckwheat, which is extensively cultivated in the Himalayas, is eaten by the Hindus on 'bart' or fast days, being one of the lawful foods for such occasions. In Japan, Buckwheat is called Soba, and its flour is prepared in various ways; kneaded with hot water to make a dough, Soba-neri (a kind of macaroni) Soba-kiri and so on. The grains, steamed and dried, are eaten boiled or made into bread or Manju, a small cake. Its young leaves are eaten as a vegetable and its stalks are used to feed cattle. In the Russian Army, buckwheat groats are served out as part of the soldiers' rations and cooked with butter, tallow or hemp-seed oil. The Chinese Army also feeds its soldiers buckwheat because it gives them strength and stamina. In Germany it forms an ingredient in porridge, soups, puddings and other food. They also brew beer from the grain, and it is distilled into a spirit in Danzig. The blossoms may be used for dyeing a brown colour. The most appealing quality of buckwheat, outside of its many uses in cooking, is its high nutritional value.  Buckwheat is an all-natural source for the majority of the nutrients that we require daily. It is the best known source of high quality, easily digestible protein in the entire plant  kingdom... it even has more protein  than soybeans. Buckwheat is grown organically, without pesticides, herbicides, or additives. This miracle plant is also a great source for minerals, vitamin B, potassium, phosphorus, dietary fiber and  vitamin P, which contains the flavonoid rutin. Rutin is effective in reducing the cholesterol count in the blood and keeping the capillaries and arteries strong and flexible. The reason for the incredibly high protein content is that buckwheat contains all of the eight essential amino acids which the body cannot produce. As well as having these amino acids, buckwheat is a complex carbohydrate which means the body can meet its fuel needs without burning protein. This allows the protein to be used in the most efficient way possible. Buckwheat is also cholesterol free and virtually fat free as well. All in all, buckwheat perfectly fits our modern low calorie, high nutrition diets.  Added to our web site in the interest of better health.