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OATS
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Did you know that an oat by any other name is a groat? That's the name of the edible part of the oat kernel after the hull, or outer layer, is removed. Groats are the basis for all the oat variations found in the grocery store.
Groats are steamed to soften them slightly before they are sent through large steel rollers. The groats are left whole for old-fashioned oats or rolled more thinly and cut into small pieces for quick oats. Groats for instant oatmeal are cut into even smaller pieces and specially processed so no cooking is needed.
When we look back in history, we find that oats are mentioned as early as the Bronze Age, 1500-500 B.C.
Alexander the Great fed his fabled horse, Esepheus, only oats. He claimed oats made his horse run faster. Looking at the Romans, it is noted that the Romans most likely carried oats throughout Europe.
Oats eventually became a staple food in the British Isles. Oats' popularity soared in Scotland. To this day, oats are a Scottish favorite and are served in a variety of ways, from hot porridge and breads to drinks and desserts.
Oats were brought to the New World by an adventurous sea captain, who planted them in 1602 on one of the Elizabeth Islands off the southern coast of Massachusetts.
In 1764, George Washington experimented with oats on his farm at Mount Vernon. In 1787, the year he presided over the constitutional convention, he had 400 acres of oats and 700 acres each of wheat and corn.
Today, oats are America's third-leading cereal crop (after wheat and corn) and fourth most important crop worldwide. Oats are grown predominantly in the upper Midwest.
In 1854, a miller from Akron, Ohio, Ferdinand Schumacher, introduced oatmeal to the United States. Known as "The Oatmeal King," he traveled about promoting oatmeal as a wonderful, flavorful food. He joined two other Midwest millers, Henry Seymour and William Heston, to form The Quaker Oats Company in 1901.
The incorporation of these millers spurred a number of "firsts" for their company, including:
* First cereal in the world to be marketed under a brand name
* First cereal to carry recipes and offer premiums.
Oatmeal has traveled to the North Pole with Admiral Richard Byrd, to the South Pole with Ronald Amundsen, and to Mt. Everest with Sir Edmond Hillary. Oatmeal has also orbited the earth with U.S. astronauts.
>From North to South, East to West, from high-scale restaurants to roadside cafes, oats can be found in a wide variety of recipes. Next time you are cooking or baking with oats, reflect back on their humble beginning and how they came to grace our cuisine today.
Enjoy!
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