Cuisine Canada Scene

Last week, Jackie Rowe asked the following question via our comments section:

Is Red Fife wheat suitable for pies, baking or bread? I understand this wheat is being re-introduced into Canada’s flour choices.

Being unfamiliar with this grain, I asked Jennifer Cockrall-King, a member from Alberta, if she could help us out. Here’s her response:

Red Fife is a Canadian heritage wheat that has made a stunning comeback in some foodie / baking circles thanks to a few people like Sharon Rempel, breadmaker Cliff Leir (Victoria), etc. It’s Canada’s first “presidia” product that has been added to Slow Food International’s Ark of Taste.

It’s kind of the “father” of Canadian bread wheat. It’s probably a Ukrainian variety, Halychanka, but which was planted by Scottish immigrant farmers, the Fifes, in on their Ontario farm (Peterborough) and quickly became the dominant wheat grown in Canada from about 1860 to 1900. Red Fife was then crossed with Hard Red Calcutta to produce Marquis wheat which became Canada’s number one wheat after 1900. Red Fife fell out of favour until it was “rediscovered” and brought back into the foodie consciousness by a few food activists. It was a particular rallying point for many Slow Food Canada members out in BC. As such, Red Fife wheat has been added as Canada’s first “presidia product” into Slow Food international’s Ark of Taste. Now you can buy loaves of Red Fife bread at a few artisan bakeries in BC.

According to Red Fife’s presidia page on the Slow Food Website, “Artisan bread made from Red Fife Wheat has a hay yellow crumb, with an intense scent of herbs and vegetables colored with a light acidity. The nose has notes of anise and fennel, and in the mouth the bread is unexpectedly rich with a slightly herby and spicy flavor.”  Drop by to see a photo of  baker Cliff Leir and his bread.

The Wikipedia entry on Red Fife actually has a really good synopsis, as does Sharon Rempel’s entry in the Canadian Encyclopedia.

So to answer your question more directly: It’s perfect for BREAD, especially sour dough! I don’t think it would be great in pies, but might work for more rustic baking as opposed to fancy cakes and cookies.

Have you used Red Fife? If so, what are its culinary strengths and weaknesses in your experience?

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Jennifer Cockrall-King has been covering the food and food culture of the Canadian prairies and Canada-at-large for the past 10 years both as a freelancer and as co-publisher and co-editor of The Edible Prairie Journal and www.edibleprairie.ca. Time-permitting she updates her freelance website www.foodgirl.ca. She was recently included in Western Living magazines’ “40 Foodies under 40.”

Photo © urbanworkbench. Published under a Creative Commons License.