Читать книгу Bartending - Margaret Brooker - Страница 14

Groats Grain which has been hulled and, usually, coarsely crushed. While ‘groats’ can denote any such grain, unqualified in the UK it generally refers to oats. In the USA ‘grits’ is the more common term. High protein and fat content make oats among the most nutritious of cereals. However, unless steam-treated, the fat, combined with an enzyme in the bran, rapidly causes rancidity. Groats can be prepared as porridge or like rice.

Rolled oats Oats which have been hulled, steam-softened, then rolled flat. The heating destroys the enzymes in the bran which would otherwise cause the fat in the germ to go rancid. Rolled oats therefore keep well. The various sizes of flakes depend upon whether the whole groat or pinhead oatmeal was rolled. As well as relatively fast-cooking porridge, rolled oats are used in muesli and biscuits.

Oat bran Fine pale-brown flakes of the thin, fibre-rich layer of cells located under the rough outer hull of the groat, more accurately named oat fibre. Because the adherent layer is impossible to remove cleanly, small creamy fragments of the nutritious centre of the grain speckle the fibre. Containing significant water-soluble dietary fibre, oat bran is consumed for its cholesterol-reducing properties and added to baked goods.

Oat flour A fine powder ground from husked oats, distinct from superfine oatmeal which still has a granule. It is used for general baking but, with no gluten-forming proteins of its own, for risen baked goods it must be combined with another flour that contains gluten-forming proteins. Because oat flour includes the germ and the bran, which together rapidly go rancid, it does not keep well and should be freshly ground.

Oatmeal Granules of milled oat grains processed to varying grades of fineness. For the coarsest, pinhead meal, the groat is cut into several pieces. When ground, pinhead progressively becomes rough, medium-rough, medium, fine and super-fine oatmeal. Unless heat-treated, oatmeal does not keep well, rapidly going rancid. An historical staple of Scotland, oatmeal is primarily used in porridge and oatcakes, and is a key ingredient in Atholl brose and haggis.