freekeh

{{about|the Middle Eastern dish|the village in northern Syria|Farikah}}

{{Infobox food

| name = Freekah

| image = Freekeh with roasted vegetables.jpg

| image_size = 200px

| caption =

| alternate_name =

| place_of_origin = Levant

| creator =

| course = Main

| served =

| main_ingredient = Green durum wheat

| variations =

| calories =

| other =

}}

Freekeh (sometimes spelled frikeh) or farik ({{langx|ar|فريكة}} / ALA-LC: farīkah; pronounced free-kah /ˈfɹiːkə/) is a cereal food made from green durum wheat (Triticum turgidum var. durum) that is roasted and rubbed to create its flavour. It is an ancient dish derived from Levantine and North African cuisines,Anissa Helou, "Freekeh", in Alan Davidson, ed., The Oxford Companion to Food remaining popular in many countries of the eastern Mediterranean Basin, where durum wheat originated.{{cite journal | url= http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/g66-028 | title=The origin of cultivated wheat | last =Jenkins | first = J.A. | journal=Can J Genet Cytol | year= 1966 | volume= 8 | issue=2 | pages= 220–32| doi=10.1139/g66-028 | url-access=subscription }}

The wheat is harvested while the grains are green and the seeds are still soft; it is then piled and sun-dried. The piles are carefully set on fire such that only the straw and chaff burn. Under these conditions, the high moisture content of the seeds prevents them from burning. The roasted wheat is then threshed and sun-dried to achieve a uniform flavour, texture, and colour. This threshing or rubbing process of the grains gives this food its name, farīk or "rubbed". Finally, the seeds are cracked into smaller pieces that resemble green bulgur.[http://www.cliffordawright.com/caw/food/entries/display.php/topic_id/23/id/101/ “Freekeh - Farik - Green Wheat”], Food History, Clifford A. Wright.

History

Freekeh is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible under the term qalûy{{Cite journal |last=Farber |first=Zev I. |date=2019 |title=Israelite Festivals: From Cyclical Time Celebrations to Linear Time Commemorations |journal=Religions |language=en |volume=10 |issue=5 |pages=323 |doi=10.3390/rel10050323 |issn=2077-1444 |quote=qālûy in biblical terms, known today by the Arabic term, freekeh |doi-access=free}} ({{langx|hbo|{{Script/Hebr|קָל֤וּי}}}}, scorched or roasted) or carmel{{Cite web |last= |date=2019-03-26 |title=כרמל - Carmel |url=https://hebrew-academy.org.il/2019/03/26/כרמל/ |access-date=2023-07-06 |website=Academy of the Hebrew |language=he-IL}} ({{langx|hbo|{{Script/Hebr|כַּרְמֶל}}|links=no}}), indicating it was used in ancient Israelite cuisine. For instance, in the Book of Kings II, it is said that Elisha miraculously fed about a hundred people with some barley bread and carmel. The Syriac version of the Bible translates the term into froka, a cognate of the Arabic freekeh.{{Cite journal |last1=Musselman |first1=Lytton John |last2=Al-Mouslem |first2=Abdel Baset |date=2001 |title=Triticum Durum in Northern Syria—Parched Corn (Frikeh) of the Bible? |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/BF02864557 |journal=Economic Botany |language=en |volume=55 |issue=2 |pages=187–189 |doi=10.1007/BF02864557 |bibcode=2001EcBot..55..187M |s2cid=40331293 |issn=0013-0001|url-access=subscription }}Bayram, M. (2008). An analysis of scorched immature wheat: FREKEH. Cereal foods world, 53(3), 134.

Freekeh is also mentioned in an early thirteenth-century Baghdad cookbook as farīkiyya. In that recipe, meat is fried in oil and braised with water, salt, and cinnamon bark. Then, dried coriander is stirred in with young wheat ("freekeh") and is cooked. Finally, the meal is served with cumin, cinnamon, and fresh lamb tail fat.

In his 1865 book The Land of Israel: A Journal of Travels in Palestine, British clergyman and scholar Henry Baker Tristram documented the preparation of freekeh near the Sea of Galilee:

Many fires were lighted on the shingle by the shores of the lake … A few sheaves of wheat had been brought down from the fields above; these were tossed on the fire, and as soon as the straw was consumed, the charred heads were dexterously swept from the embers onto a cloak spread on the ground. The women of the party then beat the ears and tossed them into the air until they were thoroughly winnowed, when the wheat was eaten without further preparation ... the green ears had become half-charred by the roasting, and there was a pleasant mingling of milky wheat and a fresh crust flavour, as we chewed the parched corn. We were delighted to have seen the preparation, and to have partaken parched corn, so often mentioned in the Old Testament Scriptures.{{Cite book |last=Tristram |first=H. B. (Henry Baker) |url=https://archive.org/details/landofisraeljour00trisuoft/page/590/mode |title=The land of Israel : a journal of travels in Palestine, undertaken with special reference to its physical character |date=1865 |publisher=London Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge |others=Robarts - University of Toronto}}

Culinary

File:Firik ve bulgur.jpg (right) before cooking]]

In Egypt, freekeh is served as ḥamām bi’l-ferīk (pigeon stuffed with green wheat). Freekeh is also prepared in Egypt with onion and tomato, and sometimes with chicken. Shūrbat farīk bi’l-mukh is a freekeh and bone marrow soup from Tunisia. {{Transliteration|ar|Freeket lahma}}, a green wheat pilaf dish with roasted lamb, spring peas, and pine nuts, comes from Jordan, and shūrba al-farīk is a soup with green wheat and chicken.

In Syria, freekeh usually is prepared with lamb, onion, butter, almonds, black pepper, cinnamon, cumin, and salt.{{cite web | url=https://olivetreenutrition.com/authentic-syrian-freekah/ | title=Freekeh with Meat: Authentic Syrian Freekeh Pilaf | date=5 February 2017 }}{{cite web | url=https://suzannajjarphotography.com/blog/2021/3/4/get-your-freekeh-on | title=Get Your Freekeh on (Recipe) | date=4 March 2021 }}

In Tunisia and Algeria, freekeh is usually prepared as a main ingredient in a tomato-based soup called Chorba frik and is considered a traditional food.{{cite web | url=https://www.carolinescooking.com/chorba-frik/ | title=Chorba frik (Algerian lamb and freekeh soup) | date=13 February 2024 }}{{cite web | url=https://www.ourtunisiantable.com/home/2017/6/4/tunisian-shorba-recipe | title=Tunisian shorba frik recipe | date=6 June 2017 }}

In Turkey, freekeh is known as firik, and a pilaf dish based on freekeh, called firik pilavı, is found in traditional Southern Anatolian cuisine. It may be combined with bulgur; legumes such as chickpeas and various herbs and spices, and sometimes meat, may be added. With the influx of millions of Syrian refugees since 2011, firik is available in markets all over Turkey.{{Cite book |last=Akin |first=Engin |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1281976159 |title=Essential Turkish Cuisine |date=2015 |publisher=ABRAMS (Ignition) |others=Anya Bremzen |isbn=978-1-61312-871-8 |oclc=1281976159}}

In Palestine (region), a variety of freekeh pilaf is made with lamb, onion, olive oil, raisins, dried cherry plums, almonds, pine nuts, black pepper, cinnamon, cumin, and salt. Freekeh is also served in a soup along with chickpeas and meat (beef or chicken).{{cite web | url=https://blog.canaanpalestine.com/freekeh-soup/ | title=Freekeh Soup | date=2 September 2019 }}{{cite web | url=https://www.fifteen.net/dishes/palestinian/ | title=20 Traditional Palestinian Food Dishes }}

Nutritional value

{{Nutritional value

| name = Freekeh (green durum wheat)

| kJ = 1418

| carbs = 71 g

| fat = 2.5 g

| protein = 14 g

| calcium_mg = 34

| iron_mg = 3.5

| sodium_mg = 2

| magnesium_mg = 144

| phosphorus_mg = 508

| potassium_mg = 431

| zinc_mg = 4.2

| manganese_mg = 3.0

| thiamin_mg = 0.42

| riboflavin_mg = 0.12

| niacin_mg = 6.7

| pantothenic_mg = 0.94

| vitB6_mg = 0.42

| folate_ug = 43

| opt1n=selenium

| opt1v=89 ug

| opt2n=water

| opt2v=11 g

| note =[https://web.archive.org/web/20150326213943/http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/6540?fg=&man=&lfacet=&count=&max=&sort=&qlookup=&offset=&format=Full&new=&measureby= Link to Full USDA Database]

}}

Freekeh is comparable in nutritional content to other cereal grains, especially durum wheat, from which it is derived, depending on the durum cultivar.{{cite web|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/recipes/recipe-grilled-halloumi-and-freekeh-salad/article25500065/|title=Grilled Halloumi and Freekeh Salad|author=Velland E|publisher=The Globe and Mail, Food and Wine, Toronto|date=14 July 2015}} Durum is notable for its high content of protein (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV), dietary fiber, B vitamins, and several dietary minerals, especially manganese (143% DV) (table). Before roasting, freekeh is 11% water, 71% carbohydrates, 2.5% fat, and 14% protein.