Every picture tells a the story, right? Rod Stewart said it not me.

If this nub of my latest loaf is any indication of my love, or great appreciation for the world’s smallest grain, I am ahead of myself, Teff. That’s the name of this nutty and vigorous grain, full of all the good nutritional value things people talk about these days; fiber, protein, iron and the highest percent of bran and germ. It’s costly, yes. And it’s not easy to work with – actually it sweats –  but if I can handle it, so can you!

I first heard about it at San Francisco’s wonderful bread and pastry school SFBI. Experienced it eating spicy doro wot with Ethopian injera, a Teff-laden (and leavened) flat bread. My teacher, Safa Hamzé, gave us some insights on ancients grains, of which Teff, topped his list. My recommendation is Google it, or better still go to SFBI’s site where they gratefully shared the recipe for the 7×7 bread in the picture. In addition, they share a whole treatise on ancient grains, a freebie unless that is of course you want to go to take their workshop, which I highly recommend.