A thousand years from now, an archeologist will discover that her ancestors were prairie farmers. This finding will provoke an intense desire to know more.
Her thesis will be called The Culture and Habits of Western Canadian Prairie Communities of the Late 20th Century. She will lead an archeological excavation and discover the foundation of a town’s community hall, long buried under layers of rich prairie topsoil (or burning desert sand, depending on how this whole global warming thing plays out).
Then, one day, a research assistant will unearth an ancient artifact: a plastic bowl. Residue from the bowl will be tested and the results will reveal an all-important clue about these ancient prairie peoples:
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they ate a lot of pasta salad.
In fact, if the archeologist researches thoroughly, she will discover that at nearly every wedding, family reunion, church gathering, summer barbecue or post-funeral social, someone always brought a bowl of the stuff.
You know the kind: it’s served cold; it has chunks of cheese and bits of onion, celery, radishes and parsley; it’s creamy; and people are happy to get a second helping.
Pasta salad is as Western Canadian as the durum it’s made from and the durum producers that grow it.
But today, when urban consumers browse the pasta section of their grocery store, most are probably oblivious to the processing chain in which durum growers are the first link.
Durum producer Alex Russell says he wants people to understand the issues
facing farmers.
“(I) feel it’s pretty important to keep the connect between rural and urban,” he said. “That divide (gets) wider and wider all the time, as less and less people actually farm.”
Russell has been farming for 26 years on an intergenerational centennial farm south of Lethbridge.
He says durum grows well on his land, often out-yielding winter wheat. It also tends to be a choice for continuous cropping, because “you don’t have a contamination of durum in your winter wheat crop,” he said.
This year, Russell grew about 450 acres of the Avonlea variety and plans to sell it to a Lethbridge mill.
While durum sells at a premium compared to other wheat, it also comes with its own financial risk – what Russell calls a risk-premium – compared to other wheat crops.
“Durum will fall off faster than a bread wheat or winter wheat,” he said.
“So you have the risk (that) if you’re into bad harvest weather, the discount you’ll get for that will occur faster.”
Durum quickly loses colour and quality when damaged, which can cause the miller to reject the crop.
“Just because it’s a No. 1 durum doesn’t mean it will meet their specs,” Russell said.
Only a farmer can know the anxiety of watching a good quality crop ready for harvest go to waste because of bad weather. Sometimes rain will cause the durum kernels to sprout while lying in the field,
at which point the only option is to sell it
for livestock feed.
Russell said durum works well as a feed, but it’s more difficult to market because the kernels are harder and feeders don’t prefer it.
Durum is the main ingredient of quality pasta. Russell said it would be nice if producers could increase their share of the pasta value chain.
A 375 gram package of retail pasta might sell for $1.50 and yet, according to Russell’s calculations, the producer’s share is only about eight cents.
“It’d be nice to get our percentages up somewhat,” he said.
Pasta Salad
8 oz. (250 g) whole wheat PASTA of your choice
1 medium RED BELL PEPPER, seeded and diced
11/2 cups (375 mL) button MUSHROOMS, halved
1 cup (250 mL) diced CUCUMBER
11/2 cups (375 mL) CORN
6 SCALLIONS, finely sliced
1 can (15 oz./425 g) RED KIDNEY BEANS, drained and rinsed
1 cup (250 mL) diced SWISS CHEESE
SALT and freshly ground BLACK PEPPER
Dressing
11/2 cups (375 mL) strained COTTAGE CHEESE or PLAIN YOGURT
1 cup (250 mL) MAYONNAISE
SALT and freshly ground BLACK PEPPER
2-3 CLOVES GARLIC, crushed
1/3 cup (75 mL) chopped fresh CHIVES
SALAD GREENS to serve
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the pasta. Return to a boil, then simmer until just tender.
Drain the pasta and rinse it in cold water, then let cool completely.
Mix all the prepared vegetables together and season lightly with salt and pepper. Blend the ingredients for the dressing and season to taste.
Place the pasta in a large bowl, then top with the vegetables. Spoon on the dressing.
If it is to be served immediately, toss all ingredients together and transfer the salad to a large platter lined with salad greens.
If preparing it in advance, leave it in layers and toss at the last minute. Serves 12 as an appetizer, six to eight as a main course.
Source: High Fiber, High Flavor by Rosemary Moon, Firefly Books, 2000.
