It is extraordinary what takes place when one makes time to relax and simply slow down the pace of life. One suddenly becomes aware of small things. This is exactly what happened to me during my recent visit to Provence, only a few weeks ago. The frantic pace of my life was suddenly gone and I had the luxury of letting things unfold.

One of my favorite activities on the trip was reading Provençal cookbooks. On my very first day in Saint-Rémy I made a beeline for the local bookstore and browsed through all the cookbooks before settling on a couple of them. The very next day, a friend, who also happens to be a chef in a local restaurant, gave me a copy of a legendary nineteenth-century cookbook, "La Cuisinière Provençale" by Jean-Baptiste Reboul. I was thrilled! I set out to read all my cookbooks and immersed myself in the culture. Then two small words caught my eye… something I had never heard of before: petit épeautre. What on earth was this? So I did some research and discovered that this grain, an ancient form of wheat, had been harvested from the wild as early as 16,000 BC and actually domesticated and cultivated around 10,000 BC. Unbelievable! (I also finally found its English name: "einkorn" or "small spelt.")

It would take some persistence to find out more about this ancient grain. But that would be my project when I got home… For the time being all I could think about was getting my hands on some! As it turned out, it wasn't hard to find: all it took was walking into a charming specialty shop in Saint-Rémy. There I found a proud bag of petit épeautre sitting right there on the shelf. Within a couple of hours, my husband Marc and I were eating my first creation with it: and we couldn't believe how delicious this grain was! It is sweet, nutty and very delicate—I would say even refined. I composed this salad with the fresh vegetables I'd bought from the local farmers' market and the famous cured olives of Nyons. This is truly the best of what cooking with fresh, local ingredients has to offer—an experience that cannot be forgotten.

Needless to say, I came back with a few bags of petit épeautre in my suitcase and immediately made the recipe here. To my delight it was just as good. Then I did my research. This ancient grain, "Triticum monococcum," turns out to be significantly higher in protein than modern wheat, extremely high in vitamin B and magnesium, and very low in gluten. It thrives in even very poor soil and is very resistant to disease and pests because of the strong glumes (husks) that tightly enclose the grain. Unfortunately, it yields far less than modern wheat crops, which is why it has been abandoned for production, except in small areas in Provence, Italy and Yugoslavia. In the U.S., einkorn is apparently grown and used only for research purposes, alas…

But all is not lost. I have found the website of a specialty food shop in Avignon where you can purchase some petit épeautre (see info below). If you don't want to go to the trouble of ordering it online (though if you get to taste this delightful grain I'm sure you'll agree it is worth it!), farro and pearl barley would be good substitutes. You can find those grains in specialty and organic shops, such as Fairway and Whole Foods Markets.

Le Fruitier de St. Agricol, 27 rue Saint Agricol, 84000 Avignon, France
Tel: 011 33 490 85 83 82
http://www.lefruitier.com/provence-shop/en-index.html

Note: when logging on, write "small spelt" in the search box and the product will pop up.