Buckwheat

Chefs and home cooks are reimagining the millennia-old staple.

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It's not easy to be trendy when you're five or six thousand years old, but buckwheat a humble, not particularly pretty, grainlike seed-has emerged as one of the hottest ingredients of the year. Fans are obsessed with its nutty flavor, mixing buckwheat into pastas, soups and every imaginable form of batter: cookies, waffles, brownies, cakes, the works. The trend has helped refresh the ancient grain market, which is projected to grow from $457 million to $6 billion by 2027. Nostalgia has something to do with it: "People might remember eating buckwheat pancakes with their grandparents-the familiar taste appeals," says Caroline Sluyter, program director of the Whole Grains Council. Remix your own breakfast spread with these new buckwheat eats. 

BUCKWHEAT WAFFLES WITH ORANGE MAPLE SYRUP

ACTIVE: 25 min l TOTAL: 40 min l MAKES: 8 to 9 waffles

1. Make the syrup: Bring the orange juice to a boil in a small saucepan; reduce the heat to maintain a steady simmer and cook until slightly syrupy and reduced by half, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the maple syrup, orange zest and salt and cook 1 more minute. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter, 1 piece at a time.