Nothing is healthier for you than whole wheat, right? Well, some say that Kamut, a distant relative of durum wheat, is an even better alternative.
Take our quiz about this ancient grain:
1. True or false: Kamut is nearly three times the size of wheat kernels and contains about 30 percent more protein, as well as 65 percent more amino acids.
2. Kamut has an interesting "genesis" story in the Western world. Which of the following is the true tale of how the kernel got to the United States:
a) The real-life inspiration for the movie archaeologist Indiana Jones stole a bushel of Kamut from deep in the Amazonian rain forest. He smuggled it back to Indiana, and Purdue University horticulturists planted the seeds.
b) An Air Force officer just after World War II claimed to have taken a handful of kernels from a box by an Egyptian tomb near Dashare, Egypt. He gave 36 kernels to his friend, who mailed them to his father in Montana, who planted the kernels.
c) Young novelist Ernest Hemingway, researching a novel and bumming around Tangiers, was given the seeds as an aphrodisiac. He brought them back to Illinois and planted them. Alas, it didn't work for that purpose.
3. The Quinn family farmers of Montana gave the kernels the name "Kamut." What does it mean?
a) The Egyptian word for wheat.
b) The name of the beloved family dog.
c) A made-up name that "sounded exotic."
4. True or false: Though Kamut is not gluten-free, it can be tolerated better by those with celiac disease than durum wheat.
5. Where is most of the Kamut produced?
a) Montana
b) Italy
c) Egypt
ANSWERS: 1. True; 2. b (the origins are in the Fertile Crescent area that runs from Egypt to the Tigris-Euphrates valley); 3. b; 4. True (The International Food Allergy Association says, "For most wheat-sensitive people, Kamut grain can be an excellent substitute for common wheat."); 5. b.
Sources: Purdue University Horticultural Department; Great Falls (Mont.) Tribune
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(c) 2009, The Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, Calif.). Distributed by Mclatchy-Tribune News Service.