"36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: 37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: 38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body."

"Wheat is the dominant crop in temperate countries being used for human food and livestock feed. Its success depends partly on its adaptability and high yield potential but also on the protein fraction which confers the viscoelastic properties that allow dough to be processed into bread, , s, and other food products. Wheat also contributes s, s, and s, and beneficial s and components to the human diet, and these are particularly enriched in whole-grain products. However, wheat products are also known or suggested to be responsible for a number of adverse reactions in humans, including intolerances (notably ) and allergies (respiratory and food). Current and future concerns include sustaining wheat production and quality with reduced inputs of agrochemicals and developing lines with enhanced quality for specific end-uses, notably for s and human nutrition."

"Historic documents confirm that wheat is the earliest field crop used for human food processing ... It also became the leading grain used for human consumption due to its nutritive profile and relatively easy harvesting, storing, transportation, and processing, as compared to other grains. The earliest varieties, grown 12,000–17,000 years ago in the Near East, were and . Continued breeding resulted in the development of new varieties around the world that often became adapted to areas previously unsuited for the cultivation of wheat. The main wheat varieties grown today are , which is a hexaploid with six groups of seven s in each group. This species includes hard red winter, hard red spring, soft red winter, and white wheats. Another wheat durum is a tetraploid, containing four groups of seven chromosomes totaling 28 chromosomes. The botanical name of is Triticum durum. A limited area is planted with the soft white wheat variety of Triticum aestivum, subspecies compactum, commonly known as . Currently about 4000 different wheat varieties are grown around the world."

"11 Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the is perished."

"Cultivating wheat much more food per unit of territory, and thereby enabled Homo sapiens to multiply exponentially."

"the new agricultural task demanded so much so much time that people were forced to settle permanently next to their wheat field. This completely changed their way of life. We did not domesticate wheat. It domesticated us."

"Bread may be made out of wheat flour, water, , and salt. Even when it contains no other ingredients than these, it has not always the same food value, pound for pound, for flours themselves differ in composition, and, moreover, some flours take up more water than others, the result being moister bread. Sometimes a little sugar or fat is added to the ingredients, and milk is often substituted for part of the water. These substances contribute somewhat to the nutritive valued of the bread, but they are used in such small amounts that they are much less important than the flour. The food value of a pound of bread is, therefore, not far different from that of the flour used in making it."

"BECHE DE MER, 海參 hai shén or sea slug; Holothuria; a dainty with the Chinese; found in the Pacific islands and the Indian archipelago. It is sometimes over a foot long and two or three inches in diameter. It resembles the in appearance and taste. The value imported in 1916 was . . 1,514,548."

"Money can't buy you love, but it can get you some really good chocolate ginger biscuits."

""Kids and cookies are inseparable," my Granny Rom used to say. Like my mom, who often repeated that phrase, I certainly agree. Based on a lifetime of baking cookies—not to mention eating cookies—I would also like to add that cookies bring out the kid in all of us."

"According to the basic evolutionary criteria of survival and reproduction, wheat has become one of the most successful plants in the history of the earth."

"TILLERING The wheat plant has the ability to , i.e. to produce lateral branches. At the end of the vegetative phase of development, the plant will consist of, in addition to the main shoot, a number of tillers. Exactly how many are present at this stage varies widely depending on factors such as plant population, sowing date, mineral nutrition and the application of plant growth regulators. Of the tillers present at this time, only a proportion will survive, the rest dying without producing an , possibly due to competition for resources, such as light or nutrients."

"C is for cookie, that's good enough for me"

"Say "cookie?" to a small child (or a middle-aged man for that matter) and for your efforts you will receive (a) an instant sigh of pleasure followed by (b) an outstretched palm. A petition I have learned over the years: to reward at once with something sweet and crunchy or take the consequences. For nothing in the culinary lexicon with the exception of vanilla ice cream elicits such an immediate response or such an audible demand as a cookie. Whether the question is posed in English, French, Greek, German, or Swahili!"

"There is no aroma quite so inviting as that of cookies baking, whether ginger or chocolate or caramel. And there is no snack quite so satisfying as two or three fresh-from-the-oven cookies with a cool glass of milk. Nor is there a gift quite so welcome as a lovingly wrapped package from home, brimming with cookies."

"Sea cucumbers (hai shen, 海參) are one of the most important ingredients in and have been a major trading commodity in Asia for at least 350 y. The delicacy is not exclusive to China, with nearby neighbors like South Korea having developed distinct sea cucumber of their own. There are some 1,200 species of sea cucumbers in the world, inhabiting a broad range of water depths and climates. At present, over 70 species are traded commercially, with strong demand for particular varieties raising concerns about overexploitation. To pursue practical management strategies, it is important to understand the diversity of sea cucumber foodways in Asia, such as the morphological distinction between ci shen (spiky) and guang shen (shiny, or nonspiky) varieties and their different means of preparation. Sea cucumber dishes, once the sole product of wild fishing and preparation at sit-down restaurants, have increasingly become commoditized and have even entered the scene, with corresponding effects on ."

"Sea cucumbers are eaten either raw, boiled, or pickled. In Japan and Korea the body wall and viscera of sea cucumbers are eaten raw or pickled (Mottet, 1976; Conand, 1986). The most important sea cucumber product, however, is the dried body wall which is marketed as bêche-de-mer ... , also called trepang or hai-som, throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific (Conand, 1989a)."

"When we think of classic American desserts, we tend to imagine apple pie and ice cream. However, the most classic American dessert of all might be the chocolate chip cookie."

"We need what we need. Judging ourselves doesn’t change it. Sometimes a hug and a cookie right now mean more than a grand gesture at some indeterminate point in the future."

"Here, take a cookie. I promise, by the time you're done eating it, you'll feel right as rain."

"And that's the way the cookie crumbles. [When concluding a newscast reporting piece]"

"Worldwide, wheat covers about 2.25 million square kilometres of the globe's surface, almost ten times the size of Britain."

"Although lentils tend to suffer less from disease than do other legume crops, they are still impacted by ."

"... The lentil seeds are relatively higher in protein content (25%), carbohydrates and calories that other legumes (Muehlbauel et al. 1985). Its seeds are also a good source of essential minerals like , , and . Lentil seeds are used for various cuisines worldwide and most commonly used as main dishes, side dishes, as sprouted grain in salads with ' and rice. It is used as a staple of the diet in many Middle Eastern countries and India. Lentil flour can be used to prepare dishes such as soups, stews and s. The flour can be mixed with cereals to make breads and cakes and as food for infants (Williams and Singh 1988)."

"Lentil (Lens culinaris Medlik.) is an important legume crop with respect to global production, trade, and consumption patterns. Lentil belongs to the family and is a self-pollinated crop. It is one of the highly valued pulse crops in farming systems. Lentil is an annual legume plant with its lens-shaped seed and is grown in more than 45 countries (Khazaei et al. 2019). An artificial (AI)-based research data search engine (Dimensions 2022) indicates there are than 147,000 publications, 75,000 patents, and over 150 s on lentils. These data clearly indicate the importance of lentils in today's world. The total world production of lentils was 5.61 million in 2021, which has more than doubled from 2.66 MT since 1991."

"Lentil is sometimes called “poor man's meat”. Such a description originated in ancient Europe. In India and many other countries, lentil is equally relished by all levels of society. Nevertheless, there may exist a relationship between poverty and lentil consumption as in earlier times, which led the ancient Greeks to describe the “nouveau rich”: “Now he does not like lentils anymore” (Ackroyd et al., 1982)."

"LENTIL S Lentils, 1 cup. Rich milk, 1/4 cup. Egg, 1. Butter, 1 tablespoonful. Flour, 3/4 cup. Cook lentils until tender, drain, press through a colander, add the milk, butter, flour, salt, and beaten yolk. Mix thoroughly and add the stiffly-beaten white. Drop in spoonfuls on oiled griddle and brown on both sides, or bake in the oven. Garnish with , and serve with or ."

"... Lentil seeds dating back 8,000 years have been found at archeological sites in the Middle East. Lentils were mentioned in the Bible, both as an item that traded to for his birthright and as part of bread that was made during the of the Jewish people."

"7.1.2 Lentil/Masoor Dal Masoor dal also known as red lentil is a prevalent pulse in Indian cuisines and widely utilized in diverse food products. It is a type of lentil with a reddish-orange color, a small size and can cook easily as compared to other lentils. It can be cooked without prior soaking like other pulses. To cook masoor dal, it is rinsed thoroughly and then cooked with water or broth until it becomes tender. It can be seasoned with various spices and herbs. Masoor dal is mainly consumed in the form of for lunch and dinner meals along with boiled rice, , and so forth. It is typically cooked with s, tomatoes, onions, and sometimes and . The combination of rice and dal is known by different names in different countries, for example in Nepal, it is known as dal bhat, and in Pakistan, it is known as dal chawal. Dal tadka is a popular variation of lentil curry where the cooked lentils/masoor dal are often tempered with spices like , s, garlic, and curry leaves."

"LENTIL (Lens esculenta) An annual leguminous plant much grown in Europe for its round, flat seeds, which are boiled like soup or cooked like s. The plant is little grown in this country. It requires a warm, sandy soil, and should be planted at about the time are. Sow in drills 18 to 24 inches and harvest when the stems begin to yellow. The seed may be beaten out with a flail after the pods are dry."

"The integrated (IRDF), in which ducks feed on insects and weeds in paddies and fertilise rice plants, has been a flagship of Asian sustainable-agriculture movements. ... Asia accounted for about 90% of 672 million metric tonnes of rice produced in the world as of 2010 (FAO, 2012b). Rice farming in Asia used to be characterised by small scale, labour-intensiveness and on-site recycling of green and animal manures. Although rice farming is still labour-intensive in remote areas of Asian developing countries, it has rapidly been mechanised and agrochemicals-intensive in the name of agricultural modernisation and . In fact, the so-called green revolution has largely resulted from industrial monoculture, genetically modified crops and the overuse of s, which caused agricultural land degradation globally (Roberts, 2008). ... In the IRDF system, ducks are released into rice fields after seedling transplantation. The most recognised strength of IRDF is the synergy of co-producing rice and ducks on the same track of land. Expectably, ducks peck at insects, control the germination of weeds by stirring up paddy water, and provide organic matters for the growth of rice plants. Thus, IRDF makes it possible to fatten ducks, economising on weeds and insects in rice paddies, and obtain greater rice yields."

"As we emerge from the twilight zone of the , it is clear that they established something like a cultural unity in northern India. The valley was by the seventh century the great centre of Indian population. It may be the cultivation of rice made this possible."

"Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is one of the most ancient crops, and it has played a role in the human development of agriculture, civilizations, and culture and the sciences of agronomy, physiology, genetics, breeding, malting, and brewing. It is grown and/or used around the world. For many centuries, barley has fed livestock, poultry, people, and people's spirit. Barley was among the first domesticates playing an important role during the hundreds or thousands of years of human transition from hunting and gathering to agrarian lifestyle in the "Fertile Crescent" of the Near East starting at least 10,000 years ago. ... Barley is best known around the world today as a feed grain and as the premier malting and brewing grain."

"... barley has been harvested all across North America. Its graceful seed heads are among the most beautiful of grains, as they ripen, swaying in the summer breezes. And while the crop has generally been used in brewing and as a highly nutritious animal feed, its role as one of the most delicious ingredients in a modern kitchen has been overlooked far too often."

"RICE, Oryza sativa, 米 Mi, grown in all the provinces south of the , and by dry cultivation to a small extent in South . ... In two crops are obtained annually, further north only one. ... Glutinous-rice dumplings are made at the time of the and consumed in large quantities. is eaten by persons with weak digestions, and sweetmeats are also made from this rice ..."

"Barley was a difficult cereal grain upon which to apply transgenic technology successfully, but not more so than wheat. Major obstacles have now been overcome using direct and indirect methods of transformation, Among the numerous pioneers who produced transgenic barleys, Wan and were first to report efficient transformation of barley that resulted in fertile, stably transformed plants (Wan and Lemaux, 1994)."

"… historic sources and ancient texts report that gladiators had their own diet consisting of barley and beans, and they have been referred to as hordearii or ‘barley men’ which was reported to help with weight gain and providing subcutaneous fat that protected them from flesh wounds during fights ... Barley is commonly used as a food ingredient, as a fermentable material for beer and distilled beverages and as animal fodder. Barley is ranked fourth amongst the cereal crops behind maize, and in terms of production, area harvested and yield over the past 20 years ... Barley has been incorporated into a variety of food products based on the potential health benefits. The s, a type of soluble fibre, in barley have been demonstrated to lower blood cholesterol ... and reduce human glycaemic response ..."

"The fruit or in the commoner varieties of cultivated barleys is adherent to the flowering and pale, and on being thrashed does not separate from the latter. Varieties termed naked barleys, however, exist, in which the caryopsis is free from the glumes and falls out of the as readily or more so than a grain of ."

"There are two species of cultivated rice, ' and ' The former is a common rice widely grown in the tropical and temperate zones, and the latter is endemic to West Africa. Besides these cultivated species, the genus ' comprises about twenty wild species. Classification of the genus is primarily due to Roschevicz (1931), (1932), and (1948). But the nomenclature for wild species has been an issue of controversy."

"... there are over eighty recognizable and distinct botanical forms of cultivated barley, based on morphological character differences (, 1950). Of these, only ten have achieved any wide distribution, and three of these contribute by far the greatest proportion of the cultivated barleys of the world (Orlov, 1936)."

"Throughout its history, the cultivation, trade, and consumption of rice has affected vast parts of Asia, Africa, and the Americas. In China rice started to be cultivated more than 10,000 years ago; it was also domesticate very early in South and Southeast Asia, where its cultivation spread widely through antiquity. It was grown in Europe by the tenth century CE and was introduced to the Americas in the early sixteenth century as part of the so-called . By the precolonial period, rice cultivation was widespread in West Africa. Italians like their ' and the Japanese their ; is famous for its coconut rice with beans; and any Indian meal is incomplete without rice."

". Ligusticum levisticum L. This plant is yet to be rarely found in gardens. At the present day, says , Lovage is almost exclusively used in the manufacture of confectionery; formerly the leaf stalks and bottoms of the stems were eaten, blanched like celery. ... The whole plant has a strong, sweetish, aromatic odor, and a warm, pungent taste, and is probably grown now in America, as in 1806, rather as a medicinal than as a culinary herb. It appears to have known to in 1536, who calls it Levisticum officinarum, and www only seen in gardens by Chabræus ... in 1677."

"Herbs ... were an ubiquitous feature of the (English) countryside, found in s, woods, and fields. Lovage (Levisticum officinale Koch.), which belongs to the family, is a perennial plant that grows easily and has an -like taste and a celery-like flavour, thus leading to its name as the Maggi plant. Lovage also gives rise to a gentle mouth-tingling gustatory effect due to the presence of , a volatile modulator. Charting the history of lovage's use in cooking, this narrative historical review will hopefully help to draw attention to a versatile and flavourful culinary herb that has largely been replaced in recipes by and/or ."

"Probably the easiest of all culinary herbs to grow, lovage bursts up from below ground every spring at about this time. It has a rich, brothy flavour, halfway between and s, which is probably why the herb (despite being a rare find in UK shops) is still a popular ingredient in sauces and gravies on the continent. Lovage plants are vigorous growers, unfussy about site and soil. In fact, bucking the trend for most herbs, which tend to demand sunny, well-drained sites, it’s perfectly at home even on shady sites."

"Lovage (Levisticum officinale, Koch.), a perennial, native of the Mediterranean region. The large, dark-green, shining radical leaves are usually divided into two or three segments. Toward the top the thick, hollow, erect stems divide to form opposite, whorled branches which bear s of yellow flowers, followed by highly aromatic, hollowed fruits ("seeds") with three prominent ribs. Propagation is by division or by seeds not over three years old. In late summer when the seed ripens, it is sown and the seedlings transplanted either in the fall or as early in spring as possible to their permanent places. Rich, moist soil is needed. Root division is performed in early spring. With cultivation and alternation like that given to , the plants should last for several years. Formerly lovage was used for a great variety of purposes, but nowadays it is restricted almost wholly to confectionery, the young stems being handled like those of Angelica. So far as I have been able to learn, the leaf stalks and stem bases, which were formerly blanched like celery, are no longer used in this way."

"Parsnips are lamentably underappreciated, but they are by far the tastiest of winter vegetables, so sweet and deep-flavored, and so versatile. And how to describe their flavor? Like a carrot crossed with , with undertones, and with a perfume unique to parsnips."

"Wild parsnip (Pastinaca sativa L.) is a European biennial weed that has spread through many parts of North America and the world. Though it is often not classified as a noxious weed, it is generally considered a nuisance as it can dominate plant communities and displace beneficial forages. Wild parsnip and similar (Heracleum maximum) have been sporadically associated with photosensitization of livestock and humans (Walling and Walling, 2018; Kriazheva et al., 1991; Zobel and Brown, 1991; Montgomery et al., 1987)."

"The parsnip, Pastinaca sativa L. (Peucedanum sativum Benth. and Hook.), is alien to the flora of Greece, but fairly common in Italy. ... Seeds of this have been found in the dumps of Swiss and north Italian pile dwellings of the and s; ... but it is doubtful that these came from wild parsnips which were used as a food, even though they are not carbonized, ... for the root of the wild parsnip is of dubious alimentary value; and Hoops ... and L. Reinhardt ... are probably wrong in thinking that the plant was cultivated."

"Parsnip (Pastinaca sativa, family Apiaceae) is an important root crop in North America, Europe and Asia, being widely consumed in other parts of the world. The vegetable resembles a pale carrot, being used for human and animal nutrition and also for medicinal and therapeutic purposes. Like other crops, it is target of pests and pathogens which lead to economic losses by affecting production quantity and quality in the areas where it is cultivated. Among the viruses that infect parsnip are: parsnip yellow fleck virus, strawberry latent ringspot virus, celery mosaic virus, and parsnip mosaic virus."

"BAKED PARSNIPS Scrape and cut in half lengthwise; boil till tender; put in a shallow baking-pan; put a few pieces of chopped butter or a little cooking oil on top; sprinkle lightly with sugar; pour over sufficient cream to about half cover. Salt to taste and bake a rich brown."