Where Has All the Buckwheat Gone?

Where Has All the Buckwheat Gone?

It has been especially painful for me to realize that for the past 15 years or so, at breakfast places that serve pancakes – at Denny’s, even at the International House of Pancakes for goodness sake – you can no longer get a buckwheat cake.

Buckwheat has been the preferred flour in my breakfast cakes since the Eisenhower administration. The dark wheat makes a pancake or waffle that is very fluffy and earthy, seemingly moister than their paler brethren.

Buckwheat cakes used to be commonly found in diners across this great country of ours. They’re kind of old timey food, popular in pioneer days.

Now, though, the buckwheat cake has disappeared from most menus. It’s gone the way of liver and onions or the chocolate phosphate: you can still find them but it takes some looking.

My pulse quickened when I spotted buckwheat waffles on the menu at Chicago’s Original Home of Chicken and Waffles, where I suspect the emphasis upon soul food makes the buckwheat cake more likely to appear.

As an accompaniment to the fried chicken, they were excellent. Though the buckwheat flour was mixed with some white flour, the waffles had a deep plum-color center, purple verging on black, and a lot more flavor than a regular white flour pancake.



Rich in amino acids and gluten-free, buckwheat is found in many cuisines – Japanese (soba noodles), Eastern Europe (kasha) and France (the crepes of Brittany) – though it’s all but vanished from the standard American breakfast menu, at least in these here parts.

I don’t understand how that could have happened. Perhaps it’s due to the odd preference of many for white food (white bread, white meat, marshmallow Fluff), or perhaps buckwheat fell out of favor because people just don’t like the taste (unlikely), or perhaps Northern restaurants decided it was a Southern thing, but whatever the cause, it’s now very hard to get a pancake or waffle made of buckwheat in Chicago.

At Chicago’s Original Home of Chicken and Waffles, the buckwheat waffles fill a need on the American menu, and this relatively new Oak Park restaurant is the only place I know of to get them.

Do you know of another local place to get buckwheat pancakes or waffles?

It's been a while since I've eaten there, but I have fond memory of the buckwheat waffles at Victory's Banner. Not sure if they make buckwheat pancakes as well.

Victory's Banner
2100 West Roscoe
Chicago, IL 60618

I really liked the buckwheat pancakes at Healthy Food (gone but not forgotten). I'm pretty sure all four Original Pancake Houses in the city (plenty in the 'burbs too) still serve them. I realize it's a bit far to go but not even two weeks ago I had a pair of square ones at hippie-ish Café Paradiso in hippie-ish Fairfield, Iowa. Very rustic and buckwheaty, very good.



Café Paradiso
101 N Main St
Fairfield IA
641-472-0856

Okay, David. I might as well be the one to answer the question you didn't ask: your house. I have bought buckwheat flour or whole kasha kernels and ground them myself for years. I can't recall a time when I couldn't find the former (in the "Polish" section) or the latter (in the "Jewish" section) of even Dominick's or Jewel. I then just added to my recipe (usually substituting no more than 1/3 of the flour) for pancakes and voila, as they say. Buckwheat pancakes. Plus if you buy the whole kernels, you have the added option of making any one of many other wonderful recipes, such as kasha varnishkes (mit dem little bowtie pastas, mushrooms, and...ooooo yum!). Talk about dishes of the forebears!

Rene G wrote:

Café Paradiso
101 N Main St
Fairfield IA
641-472-0856

Those look great, and this may be a "false memory," but I seem to recall the look, taste and tongue-feel of a much darker cake that used to be served, I believe, at IHOP near Uptown. These cakes I remember were practically black and very moist.

Gypsy Boy wrote:Okay, David. I might as well be the one to answer the question you didn't ask: your house. I have bought buckwheat flour or whole kasha kernels and ground them myself for years. I can't recall a time when I couldn't find the former (in the "Polish" section) or the latter (in the "Jewish" section) of even Dominick's or Jewel. I then just added to my recipe (usually substituting no more than 1/3 of the flour) for pancakes and voila, as they say. Buckwheat pancakes. Plus if you buy the whole kernels, you have the added option of making any one of many other wonderful recipes, such as kasha varnishkes (mit dem little bowtie pastas, mushrooms, and...ooooo yum!). Talk about dishes of the forebears!

Excellent thought, Dave. I'll get The Wife right on it.

What's the motivation for substituting white flour for some of the buckwheat flour (if that's what you meant)?

David Hammond wrote:What's the motivation for substituting white flour for some of the buckwheat flour (if that's what you meant)?

Not quite: I meant that no more than 1/3 of the total flour used should be buckwheat. In my experience, more than that negatively affects both flavor and texture. It's pretty powerful stuff and, in fact, I am as often inclined to use 1/4 buckwheat. Your own personal proclivities may dictate otherwise.

Gypsy Boy wrote:

David Hammond wrote:What's the motivation for substituting white flour for some of the buckwheat flour (if that's what you meant)?

Not quite: I meant that no more than 1/3 of the total flour used should be buckwheat. In my experience, more than that negatively affects both flavor and texture. It's pretty powerful stuff and, in fact, I am as often inclined to use 1/4 buckwheat. Your own personal proclivities may dictate otherwise.

What you're describing seems to be more the norm, and it's possible that this semi-legendary buckwheat cake I remember was a kitchen mistake (i.e., they used "too much" buckwheat -- though I thought it was just right).

Walker Brothers still has buckwheat pancakes on their menu.

Here's a different sort of answer, from wiki:

>Buckwheat is a short season crop that does well on low-fertility or acidic soils, but the soil must be well drained. Too much fertilizer, especially nitrogen, will reduce yields. In hot climates, it can only be grown by sowing late in the season, so that it will bloom in cooler weather. The presence of pollinators greatly increases the yield. The nectar from buckwheat flower makes a dark colored honey. Buckwheat is sometimes used as a green manure, as a plant for erosion control, or as wildlife cover and feed.

>In the northeastern United States, buckwheat was a common crop in the 18th and 19th centuries. Cultivation declined sharply in the 20th century due to the use of nitrogen fertilizer, to which maize and wheat respond strongly. Over a million acres (4,000 km²) were harvested in the United States in 1918. By 1954, that had declined to 150,000 acres (600 km²), and by 1964, the last year production statistics were gathered, only 50,000 acres (200 km²) were grown.

Have you tried kuttu paratha—Indian flatbread made with buckwheat flour?



I think you can get it at Sukhadia's but I'm not sure it's listed on the menu. I don't know if it's always offered; mine came as part of a thali. It's possible I misidentified the pictured bread but if you like buckwheat, you'll like that stuff.

You can buy kuttu atta (buckwheat flour; I'm not sure it's precisely the same as non-Asian buckwheat flour) at groceries on Devon and try making your own. I gave it a shot several years ago but found the dough nearly impossible to work with. It has no gluten so it's extremely crumbly.

Sukhadia's Sweets
2559 W Devon Av
Chicago
773-338-5400

Rene G wrote:You can buy kuttu atta (buckwheat flour; I'm not sure it's precisely the same as non-Asian buckwheat flour) at groceries on Devon and try making your own. I gave it a shot several years ago but found the dough nearly impossible to work with. It has no gluten so it's extremely crumbly.

Thus my comment, above, about textural problems. Buckwheat is a more distinctive/stronger taste than expected, I think (meaning a little goes an unexpectedly long way) and a little (meaning 1/4 to 1/3 of the total) should be sufficient for taste with the balance of white flour being enough to prevent it falling apart.

Country Kitchen in Highland Park has them. When I was pregnant, they were my craving. Very good, dense buckwheat flavor.

I remember tasting my grandfathers years and years ago and loved them then.

Country Kitchen
446 Central Ave
Highland Park, IL
847.432.7500
No website

I did a quick search on my site and found that Richard Walkers and Elly's both serve them, too. And Twisted Spoke has Banana Buckwheat Pancakes.

We don't have a ton of discrete breakfast menus on the site yet, so I'll bet there are bunch more places that serve them.

I used to enjoy buckwheat pancakes. We mostly made them at home with Aunt Jemima's buckwheat pancake mix. A while ago I did some research and found that they had discontinued making the mix. However I found this on the internet. I don't think I'll run afoul of copyright so I'll print what I found here in case you want to try making buckwheat pancakes at home. Of course you could search out a completely from scratch recipe but I'll post this for anyone interested.
This came apparently from the Quaker Consumer Relations Department.

dear value customer,
We're sorry to disappoint you, but we're no longer making Aunt Jemima Buckwheat pancake & waffle mix. I understand how upsetting it can be to find out a product that you and your family have enjoyed for so many years has been discontinued.

There are many reasons why we may discontinue a product, but it's usually because it hasn't met sales expectations. Store chains sometimes stop carrying slower-selling items to make room for new flavors or other products. When too many stores discontinue a product, it becomes difficult to continue making and selling it.

It may interest you to know that you can make buckwheat pancakes by using Aunt Jemima Original pancake mix and buckwheat flour. I've listed the recipe below for you:
Ingredients:

3/4 cup (175 ml) Aunt Jemima Original pancake mix
1/3 cup (75 ml) buckwheat flour (purchase dark flour)
1/2 tsp (2 ml) baking powder

Directions:

Stir dry ingredients together and add milk and egg as per package instructions.

Thanks for your business and many years of loyalty to Aunt Jemima, James. We hope you and your family will continue to enjoy our products for many more to come.

Cathy
Quaker Consumer Relations

ryanwc wrote:In the northeastern United States, buckwheat was a common crop in the 18th and 19th centuries. Cultivation declined sharply in the 20th century due to the use of nitrogen fertilizer, to which maize and wheat respond strongly. Over a million acres (4,000 km²) were harvested in the United States in 1918. By 1954, that had declined to 150,000 acres (600 km²), and by 1964, the last year production statistics were gathered, only 50,000 acres (200 km²) were grown.

So there's less supply.

toria wrote:There are many reasons why we may discontinue a product, but it's usually because it hasn't met sales expectations. Store chains sometimes stop carrying slower-selling items to make room for new flavors or other products. When too many stores discontinue a product, it becomes difficult to continue making and selling it.
Cathy
Quaker Consumer Relations

And less demand.

To answer your question about what happened to buckwheat, well he got shot by alfalfa.

toria wrote:To answer your question about what happened to buckwheat, well he got shot by alfalfa.

Or maybe he was "spanked" by Alfalfa.

It was just a matter of time before the Little Rascals allusions crept in.

They're still on the traditional menu at Pancake House:

http://www.originalpancakehouse.com/phm_pancakes2.html

Whether that's still an option at the Hyde Park location, I can't say for sure, but that used to be one of my go-to items when I was breakfasting there some years ago.

No one has mentioned the crepe sarrasin, or galette de ble noir. This is the French buckwheat crepe. Pretty much every creperie in France has them.
David Lebowitz wrote about Breizh Cafe in Paris, a Breton place. His blog also has a recipe, but it includes wheat flour. While one of the gluten-free blogs features a visit to Breizh Cafe, a chowhound post cautions that most of the places in Paris include wheat flour in their crepe sarrasin recipe. Since my daughter is gluten-sensitive, I am always on the lookout for gluten-free recipes. It seems as though it would not be too difficult to substitute one of the gluten-free flour blends for the wheat flour in the recipe. If anyone locates a truly gluten-free restaurant crepe in Chicago, I'd love to hear about it.

I believe Ramova Grill still serves buckwheat cakes, I'll try to check this weekend.

Oculi wrote:I believe Ramova Grill still serves buckwheat cakes, I'll try to check this weekend.

I don't think Ramova serves buckwheat pancakes (they're not listed on the menu). Please let us know if you find out otherwise.

Josephine wrote:No one has mentioned the crepe sarrasin, or galette de ble noir. This is the French buckwheat crepe. Pretty much every creperie in France has them.
David Lebowitz wrote about Breizh Cafe in Paris, a Breton place. His blog also has a recipe, but it includes wheat flour. While one of the gluten-free blogs features a visit to Breizh Cafe, a chowhound post cautions that most of the places in Paris include wheat flour in their crepe sarrasin recipe. Since my daughter is gluten-sensitive, I am always on the lookout for gluten-free recipes. It seems as though it would not be too difficult to substitute one of the gluten-free flour blends for the wheat flour in the recipe. If anyone locates a truly gluten-free restaurant crepe in Chicago, I'd love to hear about it.

La Creperie in Chicago claims to have buckwheat crepes. I do not know if they are 100% buckwheat (I doubt it). I admit that I have a soft spot for this place. I don't mind that the fillings are a little stodgy, but a glass of French wine, a salad (with real French dressing) and a savory crepe seem to suit me for a relaxed Sunday early dinner before a movie across the street.

Walker Bros. (being a franchise of Original Pancake House) still offers them on their menu. $6.75, I believe.

toria wrote:I used to enjoy buckwheat pancakes. We mostly made them at home with Aunt Jemima's buckwheat pancake mix. A while ago I did some research and found that they had discontinued making the mix....

This was a staple at our house when I was growing up. I remember the buckwheat mix came in a yellow box, to differentiate it from the regular Aunt Jemima pancake mix in the red box--there was a buttermilk pancake mix too.
I was reminded of this thread tonight when Steve Dolinsky visited Millie's Pancake Shoppe in Addison and mentioned that buckwheat pancakes were one of the many, many varieties made there.

Millie's Pancake Shoppe
605 West Lake Street
Addison, IL 60101
630/628-9891

Since my mother is of Russian heritage, buckwheat was always a big deal in my family. As a kid, I loved buckwheat waffles, breads and pancakes. Kasha was also the most common starchy side-dish served with most meals. As I was looking through the frozen breakfast case at my local stupidmarket the other day (yes I do like the occasional frozen waffle), I noticed the distinct lack of anything buckwheat. Every other flavor was well represented (including chocolate chip). The exact same question crossed my mind. I asked my nephew about it, and he verified that buckwheat does not enjoy the popularity it once had (in fact, his reaction was "why?"). Despite the fact that it costs as much to ship as t does to buy, I often send my Mom kasha to Arizona, where she says it is virtually unobtainable. Maybe we should start a "bring back the groat" movement.

PS. I have noticed that when buckwheat cakes are available on menus, they are more like buckwheat flavored pancakes than the real heavy, dense, hearty things, I remember from my childhood.