Wheat Pimp

My friend Brittin Eustis, whom I affectionately call the Wheat Pimp, supervises and cultivates the growth of organic wheat and other grains in the United States. I asked him why whole wheat flour + whole wheat pasta taste so much better than I remember it tasting when I was first starting to bake bread in the 1970's.

To answer your question about the changes to organic whole wheat pasta, in the 70's the pasta was largely made from organic hard red spring wheat which originated from Ukrainian Steppes. The traditional pasta is made from semolina which is milled from durum wheat, and that wheat came from North Africa and Mesopotamia. Hard red spring wheat is mostly for bread making and has strong gluten characteristics as well as high protein. It is not necessarily suited for sourdough fermented breads unless it meets certain characteristics. It is great for making bagels. Durum is suited for pasta, is yellow in color, and has a translucent endosperm. Semolina is a granular meal that is milled from the endosperm of the durum kernel. When it comes to whole wheat products made from these grains, the taste difference is largely due to the ratio of bran to endosperm. Hard red spring wheat has a larger proportion of bran to endosperm because the kernels are smaller. The flavor of the hard red spring wheat is distinctly more "grain like" because of tannins and phenolic acid in the bran layers. Whole wheat durum flour is much lighter in color and taste due to the higher ratio of endosperm to bran. It also has lower levels of tannins.

The best flour for making whole wheat pasta is made from kamut, a grain that is actually a precursor to modern day durum. The kernel is very large, and it has strong gluten and protein. I understand from my friend Bob Quinn, who started the breeding program in the US for this variety of wheat, that kamut makes a really nice sourdough bread, and it is very popular in Europe.

Here are some references for you:
North Dakota Wheat Commission
Kamut Korasan Wheat

Best regards,
The Wheat Pimp