Finally, there is a colonial mentality to overcome. There is a tendency “to look down at our own products and to see crops like fonio simply as country people's food—therefore substandard,” said Pierre Thiam, an expert on African cuisine and Yolélé's co-founder. It’s easier to find a wheat baguette in the streets of Dakar than a croissant made from fonio, even though Senegal traditionally hasn’t produced wheat, Thiam pointed out.
Fonio's evangelists are unfazed.
Gluten-free, with four times the protein, thrice the fiber and nearly twice the iron of brown rice, as well as a low glycemic index, fonio is often called a super grain. It needs very little water to thrive, can be harvested three times per year, and its extensive root system helps fight soil erosion. In Levine’s eyes, fonio is the cure to hunger, drought, poverty and the global migrant crisis. Plus, he joked, “It’s easier to say than quinoa.”
"Look, the population of this part of Africa is supposed to double by 2050,” said Philip Teverow, the longtime branding director of grocer Dean & Deluca and a Yolélé co-founder. “Is fonio going to feed all of those people? No. But can it end their poverty so they can live more like we do? Absolutely."
Zachary Golper, the chef and owner of New York's Bien Cuit bakery and author of a book on bread, recently baked a fonio loaf. He was surprised at the grain, which he compares to "fluffy sand" that tastes like popcorn, but nuttier. "It's extraordinary," he said. "Nobody has even thought about genetically modifying this yet. It's untouched by the industry. And it's so good."
Golper is currently teaching a class on heritage baking at Wheatstalk, a conference run by the Bread Bakers Guild of America. His curriculum is designed to encourage bakers to experiment with rare grains in order to support their sustained growth. Asked if he plans to introduce fonio, he responded: "You bet I am!"
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.