Apparently a grain that has been around for a long time (from pre-biblical times?) has become very popular. It is unripe durum wheat, harvested green and then burned to rid it of its husk. The burning imbues the grain with a slight smokey flavor. It is high in protein and fiber and has all the other nutrients that grains have.
The name is an Arabic word that is pronounced FREE-kah. It's also spelled frikh, farik or freek. It comes from the Arabic word for "rubbed" because the burned grain is threshed to "rub" away its chaff.
The article tells about a dish from the early 13th century Baghdad cookery book called farikiyya that might have used this grain.
My daughter hadn't, either, and she's a bit of a connoisseur, so I don't feel too bad. I thought for sure z would have heard of it since California loves its health foods!
