One of the trends that’s big in New York dining right now is rustic food, at restaurants with virtuous names like Hearth, Peasant, Ditch Plains (the names alone are a dead giveway — I’m waiting for a restaurant to be called Salt of the Earth). You can even find a local fusion of the rustic with the local and sustainable that the critic Adam Platt calls Haute Barnyard.
Rustic food tends toward the ostentatiously plain and homely — a lot of it is as ungarnished- and unfinished-looking as a piece of driftwood. It also helps if the food is brown, hearty and was once a staple of the poor, especially the poor of a country other than the United States.
Decor in rustic restaurants tends toward rusty rakes, antique bellows and old tractor seats, though these implements have the same relation to actual working peasants as that guy from the Village People does to real construction workers.
There’s really nothing wrong with this: People go to restaurants, especially big-city restaurants, for a kind of theater. The faux-peasant pose would be insufferable if a lot of the food weren’t really good.
Farro, a variety of wheat, is the perfect rustic food. It’s brown, hearty and, ground and mixed with cheap fermented wine, was actually the daily ration of the Roman legions.
It’s also delicious, high in fiber and minerals, and low in gluten. It has a nutty texture and, unlike many other grains, cooks up quickly.
I like to cook farro like a pilaf, with some diced onions, carrots and garlic, a little bit of tomato paste for acidity and color and chicken broth. For a refined touch, I add a sprig of rosemary at the end, off the heat: It just needs a little residual warmth to release its delicious essential oils.
John Broening cooks at Duo restaurant, .
Farro
Note: Farro should not be confused with farroto, spelt or wheat berries, which are different varieties of wheat products that will produce different results. Find farro at your favorite Italian specialty grocer (call ahead). Makes about 4 cups.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup yellow onion, cut in medium dice
1/2 cup carrot, cut in medium dice
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 cup uncooked farro
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 teaspoons salt
3 cups chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1 sprig rosemary
Optional: 2 ounces parmesan, shaved or grated
Directions
In a heavy-bottomed 6-quart pot, heat the olive oil and add the onion and carrot. Cook until softened but not colored, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook about until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the farro and coat well in the vegetable mixture. Add the tomato paste and stir well to combine. Add the salt, broth and bay leaf.
Bring to a simmer and cook about 20 minutes, until farro is softened but has a bite in the center. Turn off the heat and mix in the rosemary. Add the cheese, if using.
Serve with roasted or braised meats.
