What is Freekeh?
The Arabi Pantry
What is Freekeh?
فريكة
Green wheat, set on fire on purpose. The ancient grain with a campfire in it.
Iftar's opening act, many nights: a bowl of freekeh soup.
Freekeh is wheat harvested young, still green and still milky, then flame-roasted in the field so the straw burns off and the grain picks up smoke, and finally rubbed clean (the name comes from the Arabic 'to rub'). The result is a grain with what almost nothing else has: a built-in campfire flavor, plus more protein and fiber than the mature wheat it would have become.
It is ancient: the eastern Mediterranean has eaten it for thousands of years. It is also current. Freekeh soup opens iftar tables all Ramadan, freekeh pilaf sits under roast chicken at Palestinian and Jordanian gatherings, and the health-food aisle discovered it about three millennia after the fellahin did.
How to use it
- Freekeh soup with chicken broth, freekeh, and a squeeze of lemon: the iftar opener
- Pilaf under roast chicken, where rice would go
- A smoky base for grain salads with herbs and pomegranate
- Stuffed into squash or chicken in place of rice
The Jar Itself
Two sizes of the smoke.
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Questions people actually ask
What does freekeh taste like?
Nutty like a serious grain, green like spring wheat, and smoky from the field roasting: closer to a campfire barley than to rice.
How do I cook freekeh?
Rinse well (a little char dust is normal), then simmer cracked freekeh about 20–25 minutes in twice its volume of stock, like a smoky bulgur. Whole-grain freekeh takes closer to 40.
Is freekeh healthy?
By grain standards, an overachiever: harvested young, it carries more protein and roughly four times the fiber of white rice, with a low glycemic profile.