I am intrigued about this grain, teff. It is a grain which is originally from Abyssinia and it is said that the Ethiopian runners owe their endurance to teff, which is part of their native diet. I have discovered that teff is a tiny grain similar in size to amaranth. The grain is so small that you eat the germ and the bran so it can’t be refined – which would lessen it’s nutritional value. An eight-ounce serving of teff provides 32 percent of the RDA for calcium and 80 percent for iron! (Source: Whole Life Times article by Leslie Cerier.)
I have discovered that teff is grown right here in Idaho. The owner of The Teff Company worked with farmers in Ethiopia in the 1970’s. When he returned to Idaho he realized that their are similarities in the geology and climates of Ethiopia and Idaho and he began growing teff. I bought some ivory teff grain. This is what it looks like:
The first recipe I tried was a Moroccan Chicken Stew that I found on the Bob’s Red Mill website. This turned out to taste very good. The teff made the stew nice and thick without adding flour or cornstarch. When I make it again I will cut the amount of chicken in half and add some more tomatoes and some cauliflower. I also cut the chicken into small pieces. This stew is low in fat and hign in healthy carbs, a very good meal for an endurance athlete.
Hi Kathy, i’ve commented before about GF meal replacement bars for my trek up Mt Kili (a lot of fun btw…)anyway, i live in Germany and have access to a lot of teff items here (pasta, etc.) but i’m moving back to US in january and in my brief search havent found many suppliers of GF teff items in the states(other then whole grain and flour)…do you know of any? Thanks for your help!
erik
Hi, Erik. Unfortunately, I haven’t found any products for sale that use teff. Some companies need to get on the bandwagon, I’m sure they would be popular among the celiac population. How is the teff pasta? That is interesting. I may try making some homemade. —Kathy
The teff pasta is great! even before i learned of the nutritional benefits of teff i was sold on it b/c it just tasted so good! the german company that makes it is called ‘3 Pauly’ just fyi if you happen to see a distributor for them in the states…oh, if you start making the pasta, PLEASE start selling it
Erik