Recipes for Health
Martha Rose Shulman on healthful cooking.
Trahana is a wheat product that is eaten throughout Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean. It is usually added to soups and stews, and is also eaten as a porridge. Traditionally it was a way to preserve milk for the winter, when production was always lower, by mixing it with wheat and drying it.
There are many versions of trahana, some made with only milk (this type is called sweet trahana and usually uses goat’s or sheep’s milk) and some with milk and yogurt (called sour trahana). In Greece there is even a lenten version made with vegetable pulp. The liquid is combined with wheat – bulgur or cracked wheat, flour, semolina flour or a mix of semolina and flour – and either kneaded into a dry dough (if flour is used) or simmered until it is a thick porridge. Then it is spread out on netting and dried in the sun. The Greeks usually make it during the hot, dry month of August. Once thoroughly dry it is broken up into granules that can range in size from bulgurlike morsels to small pellets You can find imported trahana in Greek markets and in some Mediterranean markets. I found five different types in my local Greek market in Los Angeles. Each one behaves a little bit differently when you cook it.
I have wanted to make trahana for years and finally got around to it last month, inspired by a very simple recipe in Diane Kochilas’s new book “Ikaria: Lessons on Food, Life, and Longevity From the Greek Island Where People Forget to Die.” This version is made with bulgur and is extremely easy; you cook the bulgur in a mix of cow’s milk, goat’s milk and yogurt until it is very thick, then spread it on a baking sheet and dry it out for several hours in a low oven. Then you break it up. Mine looked not much different from bulgur once I had broken it up, but it tasted very different, with a wonderful nutty and sour flavor that added a new dimension to every dish I used it in.
I am calling my homemade trahana sour bulgur trahana (although it would only be called sour trahana in Greece) to distinguish it from trahana made from flour or semolina flour. I used the sour bulgur trahana in all of this week’s Recipes for Health and urge you to make some or find similar whole wheat trahana for the recipe. The trahana made with semolina flour will yield thicker, stodgier results. (I like this type, too, but when it cooks the consistency is much different than the bulgur trahana I made. It is more like polenta or grits). No matter which type of trahana you use, I think you will want it in your pantry once you have tried it. It is certainly a new favorite in mine.
Homemade Sour Bulgur Trahana From Ikaria: Easy to make yourself, the trahana may become a new pantry staple.
Simple Trahana Soup With Lemon and Olive Oil: A simple trahana dish that is both satisfying and refreshing.
Stewed Green Beans and Tomatoes With Trahana: A delicious main dish stew that can be served hot or at room temperature.
Puréed Trahana and Vegetable Soup: A thick, comforting soup with sweet and tart flavors.
Trahana With Mushrooms: A savory, comforting dish with a delicious thick broth.