Le Petit Epeautre of Haute Provence

Le Petit Epeautre (triticum monococcum) of Haute Provence, protected by an IGP,  is a plant of the poacées family, which was the first cereal domesticated by man, around 7500 B.C.  The grain has a nutty flavor and is delicious served plain with whipped cream and butter stirred into it after it has been cooked. It can be used in either sweet or salty dishes. Grains of le petit épautre were discovered on a farm above Monieux in the Vaucluse at the end of the 20th century and the cereal was resurrected. Much of it comes from Sault, also home to fields of France's lavender, real lavender, NOT lavadin, which is sterile and most of which now comes from China.

Basic recipe. Use 50 grams per person. Wash the grain two or three times. Put the washed grain into a casserole with  three times the volume of water. Add salt, pepper, a sliced carrot, a sliced stalk of celery and a bouquet garni and cook, covered, for about 30 minutes. Then let rest covered for 10 minutes. The petit épeautre is ready to use.

Tabouleh made with petit épeautre. Prepare with 200 grams of uncooked grain. After making the basic recipe, add the juice of four lemons, and the following, all diced; 4 tomatoes, 1 peeled and seeded cucumber, 1 yellow, 1 red and 1 green sweet pepper. Add chopped fresh mint to taste and 4 table/soup spoons of best olive oil. Stir well and refrigerate for at least four hours.

You can make a complete meal of this tabouleh by adding chopped hard boiled eggs, tuna fish, or mussels or shrimp, and sweet corn,