On Food and Cooking

tissue, and its makeup determines the seed’s
basic texture. The storage cells are filled with
particles of concentrated protein, granules of
starch, and sometimes with droplets of oil. In
some grains, notably barley, oats, and rye, the
cell walls are also filled with storage
carbohydrates — not starch, but other long
sugar chains that like starch can absorb water
during cooking. The strength of the cement
that holds the storage cells together, and the
nature and proportions of the materials they
contain, determine the seed’s texture. Bean
cells and grain cells are filled with solid, hard
starch granules and protein bodies; most nut
cells are filled with liquid oil, and so are more
fragile. Grains retain their shape and some
firmness even when we mill away their
protective bran envelope and boil them in
plenty of water. Beans remain intact as long
as we cook them in their seed coats; otherwise
they rapidly disintegrate into a puree.
The particular contents of the seed storage