What type of wheat?
Pasta is made out of durum wheat. Durum wheat or Macaroni wheat (Triticum durum) is the only tetraploid species of wheat widely cultivated today. Durum is the hardest of all wheats. Its high protein content and gluten strength make durum good for pasta and bread. It is not, however, good for cakes, which should be made from soft wheat or they will be tough, because of the high gluten content of durum. Most of the durum grown today is amber durum, the grains of which are amber-colored and larger than those of other types of wheat. Durum has a yellow endosperm, which gives pasta its color. When durum is milled, the endosperm is ground into a granular product called semolina. Semolina made from durum is used for premium pastas and breads. There is also a red durum, used mostly for livestock feed. Durum wheat sells at a premium to other varieties and accounts for roughly 5% of global wheat production, or about 30 million tons in 2004. Most durum wheat is grown in Mediterranean countries, t
A rose by any other name may be a rose, however Wheat by any other name is not Wheat. There are three main types of Wheat with active, liquid futures contracts traded on them: Soft Red Winter Wheat (Chicago Board of Trade), Hard Red Winter Wheat (Kansas City Board of Trade), and Hard Red Spring Wheat (Minneapolis Board of Trade). In futures vernacular, each type of Wheat is typically referred to by the city in which it is traded, such as Chicago Wheat is used instead of Soft Red Winter Wheat, while Kansas City and Minneapolis refer to Hard Winter and Spring, respectively.
