Somewhere in Asia or India between 3,000 and 7,000 years ago people began to cultivate a wild grass known as rice. In several Asian languages the word for rice and food are the same, indicating the importance of this grain in the daily diet of Asian countries.
There are several mythologies surrounding the origin of rice.
Quinoa has rapidly become one of the hottest foods in the culinary industry, and in the whole foods/super foods society. 2013 was declared the International Year of Quinoa and raised awareness about this ancient grain from South America.
Years ago, when I started writing about food and where it came from, very few people knew what quinoa was. I was working in a large resort with access to all sorts of wonderful ingredients and quinoa was one of our go-to grains for vegetarian meals. We prized its versatility and nutritional value. I learned how to handle quinoa in many different forms.
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