Coarse, purified milled durum wheat
Semolina
is the name given to coarsely milled
durum wheat
mainly used in making
couscous
,
pasta
, and sweet
puddings
.
[3]
The term
semolina
is also used to designate coarse millings of other varieties of wheat, and sometimes other grains (such as
rice
or
maize
) as well.
Etymology
[
edit
]
Semolina is derived from the
Italian
word
semolino
,
[4]
1790?1800; alteration of Italian
semolino
, equivalent to
semol(a
) "bran" (
Latin
:
simila
,
lit.
'flour') +
-ino
diminutive suffix. The words
simila, semidalis, groat,
and
grain
may all have similar
proto-Indo-European
origins as two
Sanskrit
terms for wheat,
samita
and
godhuma
, or may be loan words from the
Semitic
root
smd
"to grind into groats" (
cf.
Arabic
:
????
sam?d
).
[5]
Production
[
edit
]
Modern milling of wheat into flour is a process that employs grooved steel rollers. The rollers are adjusted so that the space between them is slightly narrower than the width of the wheat kernels. As the wheat is fed into the mill, the rollers flake off the
bran
and
germ
while the
starch
(or
endosperm
) is cracked into coarse pieces in the process. Through
sifting
, these
endosperm
particles, the semolina, are separated from the bran. The semolina is then ground into flour. This greatly simplifies the process of separating the endosperm from the bran and germ, as well as making it possible to separate the endosperm into different grades because the inner part of the endosperm tends to break down into smaller pieces than the outer part. Different grades of flour can thus be produced.
[6]
Types
[
edit
]
Semolina made from hard durum wheat (
Triticum turgidum
subsp.
durum
) is pale yellow in color.
[7]
It may be milled either coarse or fine, and both are used in a wide variety of sweet and savory dishes, including many types of
pasta
. Common names in other languages include:
- Italian:
semola di grano duro
; coarse (no descriptor), fine
rimacinata
- Greek:
simigdali
σιμιγδ?λι; coarse
chondro
χονδρ?, fine
psilo
ψιλ?
- Arabic:
sam?d
????; coarse
?a?in
???, fine
n??im
????
- Turkish:
irmik
; coarse
iri
, fine
ince
- Pakistani (Urdu):
sooji
????
- Hindustani:
ba?s? rav?
,
bansi rava
???? ??? (milled only coarse, not fine)
Semolina made from common wheat (
Triticum aestivum
) is beige in color. In the United States, it is called
farina
(not to be confused with Italian
farina
, which is common-wheat flour), and it is used more often for desserts than for savory foods. On the
Indian subcontinent
, common-wheat semolina may be milled either coarse or fine, and both are used in a wide variety of both sweet and savory dishes. Common names in other languages include:
Broadly speaking, meal produced from grains other than wheat may also be referred to as semolina, e.g., rice semolina and corn semolina. Corn semolina is commonly called
grits
in the United States.
Dishes
[
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]
Savory
[
edit
]
In
Germany
,
Austria
,
Hungary
,
Bosnia-Herzegovina
,
Bulgaria
,
Serbia
,
Slovenia
,
Romania
,
Slovakia
and
Croatia
, (durum) semolina is known as
(Hartweizen-)Grieß
(a word related to "
grits
") and is mixed with egg to make
Grießknodel
, which can be added to soup. The particles are fairly coarse, between 0.25 and 0.75 millimeters in diameter. It is also cooked in milk and sprinkled with chocolate to be eaten as breakfast.
In
Italy
, (durum) semolina is used to make a type of soup by directly boiling fine semolina in vegetable or chicken broth. Semolina can also be used for making a type of
gnocchi
called
gnocchi alla romana
, where semolina is mixed with milk, cheese and butter to form a log, then cut in discs and baked with cheese and
bechamel
.
Semolina is a common food in
West Africa
, especially among
Nigerians
. It is eaten as either lunch or dinner with stew or soup. It is prepared just like
eba
(cassava flour) or
fufu
with water and boiled for 5 to 10 minutes.
In much of
North Africa
, durum semolina is made into the staple
couscous
and different kinds of flat breads like
m'semen
, kesra, khobz and other.
In Pakistan and North India semolina is called sooji, and in
South India
, rava. Semolina is used to make savory
South Indian foods
, such as
rava dosa
,
rava idli
, rava kitchri and
upma
. It is used to coat slices of fish before it is pan-fried in oil.
Rotis
can also be made from semolina.
Sweet
[
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]
In the UK, the flour is mixed with hot milk, sugar and vanilla to make a warm pudding dessert. It has fallen out of favour in recent times due to the slight coarseness that the grains retain. Prior to 1980, it was a staple pudding served in school lunches.
In
Austria
,
Germany
,
Hungary
,
Bulgaria
,
Bosnia-Herzegovina
,
Slovenia
,
Serbia
,
Romania
,
Croatia
,
Slovakia
, and the
Czech Republic
, common wheat semolina is called
Weichweizengrieß
in
German
, but is often referred to as
Grieß
). It is often cooked with milk and sugar or cooked with just milk and then topped with sugar,
cinnamon
,
Ovaltine
or other sweet toppings. A dollop of butter is also often added. This dish is called
Grießkoch
in Austria,
Grießbrei
in Germany, and
semolina pudding
in
English
.
Grießauflauf
consists of semolina mixed with whipped egg whites, and sometimes fruit or nuts, and then baked in the oven.
A baked dish containing semolina called
migliaccio
is found in the Neapolitan tradition in Italy. Migliaccio is a mixture of ricotta,
vanilla
and citrus peel, similar to the filling in
sfogliatelle
, with added semolina flour to obtain a simple, firm cake.
In Slovakia,
Sweden
,
Estonia
,
Finland
,
Lithuania
,
Latvia
,
Poland
,
Romania
,
Ukraine
,
Belarus
,
Israel
, and
Russia
, it is eaten as a breakfast porridge, sometimes mixed with
raisins
and served with milk. In
Swedish
, it is known as
mannagrynsgrot
, or boiled together with blueberries, as
blabarsgrot
. In Sweden, Estonia, Finland, and Latvia, semolina is boiled together with juice from berries and then whipped into a light, airy consistency to create
klappgrot
(Swedish name), also known as
vispipuuro
(Finnish name) or
mannavaht
(Estonian name) or
debessmanna
(Latvian name). This dessert often eaten in the summer.
In the
Middle East
and
North Africa
,
basbousa
(also called
harisa
in some
varieties of Arabic
) is a sweet semolina cake soaked in fragrant syrup and frequently topped with nuts. In
North Africa
, it is also used to make
harcha
, a kind of griddle cake often eaten for breakfast, commonly with jam or honey.
[8]
Baghrir
, a
North African
pancake, is also made with semolina or flour that is served for breakfast.
In Indian subcontinent, semolina (called Rava, suji or shuji) is used for such sweets as
halwa
and rava kesari. In
Nepal
, semolina is called suji and is used for preparing sweet dishes such as haluwa or puwa. In
Myanmar
(Burma), semolina (called shwegyi) is used in a popular dessert called
sanwin makin
. In Sri Lanka semolina is called
rulan
and used to make creamy porridge and a sweet confectionery called "rulan aluwa".
Halwa
is sometimes made with semolina cooked with sugar, butter, milk, or pine nuts. It is a popular treat in
Turkey
(
helva
),
Greece
, (
halvas
),
Cyprus
(
halvas
),
Bulgaria
(
halva
),
Iran
(
halva
),
Pakistan
(
halva
),
Bangladesh
(
halua
),
Palestine
(
khalva
), and
Israel
(
halvah
). In Turkey, sweet dishes called
revani
,
?ekerpare
and
?ambali
are made with semolina.
In Greece, the dessert
galaktoboureko
is made by making a custard from the semolina and then wrapping it in phyllo sheets. In Cyprus, the semolina may be mixed also with almond cordial to create a light, water-based pudding.
In baking
[
edit
]
As an alternative to corn meal, semolina can be used to flour the baking surface to prevent sticking. In bread making, a small proportion of durum semolina added to the usual mix of flour is said to produce a tasty crust.
[
citation needed
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
United States Food and Drug Administration
(2024).
"Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels"
. Retrieved
2024-03-28
.
- ^
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health and Medicine Division; Food and Nutrition Board; Committee to Review the Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium (2019). Oria, Maria; Harrison, Meghan; Stallings, Virginia A. (eds.).
Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium
. The National Academies Collection: Reports funded by National Institutes of Health. Washington, DC: National Academies Press (US).
ISBN
978-0-309-48834-1
.
PMID
30844154
.
- ^
"Semolina ? Definition"
.
Merriam-Webster
. Retrieved
2017-04-01
.
- ^
"Semolina"
.
Oxford English Dictionary
. Retrieved
August 25,
2019
.
- ^
"semolina"
.
The American Heritage Dictionary
. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
. Retrieved
August 25,
2019
.
- ^
Wayne Gisslen (2001),
Professional Baking
, John Wiley & Sons
- ^
"Semolina Flour"
. Spiritfoods. Archived from
the original
on 6 September 2012
. Retrieved
21 September
2012
.
- ^
Anthony Ham; Paula Hardy; Alison Bing (2007).
Morocco
. Lonely Planet. p. 74.
ISBN
978-1-74059-974-0
.
External links
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]
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Types
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Agronomy
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Trade
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Plant parts and their uses
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Basic preparation
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As an ingredient
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Associated human diseases
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Related concepts
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