members of the grass family and so are not
true cereals, but their seeds resemble the
cereal grains and are used in similar ways.
Amaranth Amaranth is the tiny seed, just 1–2
mm across, of three species of Amaranthus
that originated in Mexico and Central and
South America, and were cultivated more than
5,000 years ago. (There are also species of
amaranth native to the Old World, but they
are used exclusively as green vegetables.)
Today amaranth supplements other grains in
many baked goods, breakfast cereals, and
snacks. The Aztec combination of popped
seeds and sticky sweetener lives on in the
Mexican alegria (“joy”) and Indian laddoo.
Amaranth seeds contain substantially more
protein and oil than the cereals.
Buckwheat Buckwheat, Fagopyrum
esculentum, is a plant in the Polygonum
family, a relative of rhubarb and sorrel. It’s a
native of central Asia, was domesticated in