Brabant Gray Buckwheat

Brabantse Grijze Boekweit

Brabant gray buckwheat, or Brabantse grijze boekweit, was once very common in Brabant in the southern part of the Netherlands. The plant performs well on the poor sandy soil of Brabant and the peat of De Peel (a district in the north of Limburg and the east of Brabant). Gray buckwheat does not need any fertilizer, and on the contrary, on rich clay soil or heavily fertilized soil this plant would grow too fast, producing lots of leaves and hardly any seed. Buckwheat and buckwheat groats contain as much protein as wheat or rye (10g per 100gr of flour) and more carbohydrates. They contain less fat, but fewer minerals and B vitamins than wheat.   The people of Brabant used it to make a local specialty named ‘balkenbrij’ consisting of pork leftovers, broth, buckwheat and a mix of spices, baked into a cake shape, and served with bread. It was tasty and nutritious for the winter months. Buckwheat was also used to make pancakes and beer. Buckwheat chaff was used as filling for cushions.
Since it is a seed and not a grain it is gluten free. Buckwheat is also interesting because of its attractiveness to bees. Buckwheat honey is an unusual, dark honey with an extraordinary flavour.   Historically, Brabant gray buckwheat was grown in the districts of Kempen and De Peel. Today, the small harvest is being used to expand production to bring the crop back to the fields of Brabant. It is not currently grown in quantities large enough for sale. Gray buckwheat cultivation declined with the rise of artificial fertilizers and plants that did respond to fertilization with a high yield. Buckwheat requires a quite intense cultivation and is a vulnerable variety. One night of frost could ruin the entire harvest. That is why it was sometimes called ‘jammerkoren’, or “wailing wheat.”