Yes, it is ... it's an experiment.
At the very fringe of ancestral eating is the mesolithic, where grains were just starting to come into the human diet. We know full well just how actively dangerous to human health the consumption of wheat is, but some folks amongst our community do experiment with ancient grains.
Amaranth, Buckwheat, Millet, Quinoa, Kamut, Teff and Spelt seem the popular ones.
What is interesting here is that spelt is biologically related to wheat, yet people with quite visible intolerances to wheat do seem able to eat spelt. My own wheat intolerance manifests itself as nuclear heartburn within about an hour of eating.
Why? I'm curious ... that's all. I don't have any burning desire to eat this stuff regularly to work it into my regular routines. I saw a packet and thought, "why not?".
Pairing with swordfish was not deliberate either ... I simply had some swordfish that wanted eating that evening and I wanted to try out the spelt. I put some purple sprouting broccoli alongside.
To be fair, it worked ...
Ingredients
Swordfish.
Spelt, Bouillon and parsley.
Purple sprouting broccoli.
Spelt
Spelt takes about halt an hour to cook through properly. Treat it like a risotto that you don't need to stir and you shouldn't go wrong.
Maybe a cup per person and half a pint of water each, lid on, bring to the boil and lower to a simmer. Bouillon to taste - that's the mirepoix flavour.
Fish & Veg
After 15 minutes, pop the tenderstem broccoli over the spelt in a steamer pan.
Fire up your griddle and lay the fish on.
Serve
With everything cooked through, place the broccoli on the side, a good helping of spelt in the middle garnished with freshly chopped parsley and fish over to the other side.
n=1
Flavour was not at all bad - think somewhere between risotto and Bulgur Wheat or Pearl Barley and you're there. I can see myself using this again for something like a good, rustic central European stew in place of barley.
I did not get even a hint of heartburn, something which wheat would bring on within the hour ... but ... erm ... I did get wind. It passed, or rather, I passed it. No ill effects the following day.
In all, fun.
