4 ms·
I'm not that familiar with this subject in general (and not at all for japan) but I have read some about grain agriculture in east asia. And one thing resounds
by giraffe_lady 1y ago
I'm not that familiar with this subject in general (and not at all for japan) but I have read some about grain agriculture in east asia. And one thing resounds from the record here: people do not like millet and will do their best not to eat it. In northern china (the region I'm most familiar with) people who could afford to eat rice or wheat did so as much as possible, the wealthiest landowners generally did not eat millet at all.
I don't know how this fits into the history here, but if they got rice & millet at the same time and could farm enough rice, it fits with what I've read about other places where both grains were available.
FWIW millet eats fine to my modern palate but then I've only had the probably better tasting modern varieties, who knows what that shit was like a few thousand years ago. I also have access to a wide variety of grains and I might feel differently if I had to pick one to eat every day of my life. Similar thing with oats, which have occupied a similar role in the mediterranean for a long ass time: animal fodder if you could afford wheat, your food if you couldn't.
- jandrewrogers 1y agoI ate millet occasionally as a child. It is fine if you are accustomed to eating rougher cereals, which admittedly most people these days are not. Honestly, if people can eat quinoa then they should have no issue with millet. In the US, millet is grown almost exclusively for animal feed.
- 3eb7988a1663 1y agoThat is an excellent insight about non-domesticated plant quality. Without human guidance, plants optimize for something significantly different than optimum tastiness or ease of harvest. Ancient corn varieties started with just seven kernels per cob.
- chihuahua 1y agoFunny - I would probably eat mostly oats every day, if it was nutritionally complete. It's so convenient and pretty tasty.
- thatguy0900 1y agoThey might have felt the same if they could afford to douse it in suger and spices every time. How do you usually prepare your oatmeal?
- eszed 1y agoNot the guy you asked, but I steelcut oats I mostly eat with butter and salt - I think they're delicious on their own. If you haven't tried that, you should!
- fsckboy 1y agoI've never understood the steelcut trend. I don't dislike them, but I just love me a rolled oat, plain, it's more flavorful to me. It is difficult to find good rolled oats that are "old fashioned" and not "quick cook". It seems that the industry has gone to quick cook which are they are too mushy, and when you seek out the old fashioned, can't fool me, they've come from the same quick cook bin.
- tonyedgecombe 1y agoNot the op but I cook mine in water and eat them as they are. I used to sprinkle some sugar on them but don’t so much now.
- chihuahua 1y agoFairly plain, just cinnamon and sugar or sucralose. With chocolate chips for a special treat.
- johngossman 1y agoOne of the plot points in Seven Samurai is that the peasants save their rice for the samurai and themselves eat millet. When the samurai learn this, they are horrified at the privation the peasants are putting themselves through.
- Terr_ 1y agoThat was actually a problem for the Japanese Navy, where crewmen (and particularly officers) suffered from beriberi, a deficiency of B1/thiamine. Many of them, having "made it" socioeconomically, focused on white rice to the exclusion of "lower class" options.