Food – Page 2 – AllDifferences

When we look for new flavors while cooking, we often come to these starchy foods when the goal is to replace pasta and potatoes.But do you know the difference between both?That's what we are going to see today. What's the difference between Quinoa and Bulgur?Quinoa is a plant of South America, a pseudo-cereal, that can replace rice in many recipes.Bulgur is produced from wheat, which is cooked, dried and then crushed. It looks like semolina. It's not simple to give you the difference between these two starchy foods in two sentences, so I recommend reading the following of the post to know everything. Quinoa Definition An annual herb (Chenopodium quinoa) of the goosefoot family that is native to the Andean highlands and is cultivated for its starchy seeds which are used as food and ground into flourMerriam-Webster The important thing to remember here, is that the quinoa plant is cultivated for its seedsSeeds are the form you can get in your favorite supermarket Plant The quinoa plant exists under several varietiesHere is what it looks like: A quinoa plant Seeds are what you can see on the pictureThey will be harvested to be transformed into the commercial form we know (I'll show you pictures in the following if you have no idea what it looks like) Culture As mentioned in introduction, quinoa is almost exclusively cultivated in two South America countries: PeruBolivia As the demand for quinoa has exploded since the 2000s, these two countries must constantly increase their production capacity by increasing the number of quinoa fields in the country. The harvest of quinoa in South America There are also a few fields in other countries, but it remains marginal Nutritional values What made the success of the quinoa is that it is gluten free Once cooked, it's rich in carbs (21%) and proteins (4%) but low in fat (2%)A 100g portion of cooked quinoa provides about 120 calories, as well as manganese, phosphorus, fiber and other dietary minerals such as iron, zinc or magnesium Price of quinoa We can find quinoa in all kind of recipes and packagingIt can be either organic and natural, mixed with other starchy foods, or just ready, already cooked Here are some examples to get an idea: Organic quinoa seeds that I recommendThe supermarket versionOr even in ready to eat meals, if you want to try Cooking Like the rice you can prepare it from different ways: With water, exactly like rice (10 to 15 minutes after boiling)In a pan, ideal for a wok You can prepare quinoa with vegetables It can then be integrated into a dish, as an accompaniment, as a salad or even as a dessert A recipe in video And if you want to try, here is a step by step video of 3 healthy quinoa recipes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNTil0HbWmc To go further If you want to know more about quinoa, you'll probably need more help, as its post is just here as an introductionI just want to add that you can find many books on the topic, about the quinoa benefits, recipes, etc.Check this link on Amazon to get an idea Bulgur Definition A form of wheat that has been parboiled, cracked, and dried.Dictionary As I wrote in introduction, bulgur is just wheat prepared with a certain way (by crushing wheat)Sorry, you will not find anything exotic in this part :) Plant Bulgur is made from wheat, so the original plant is simply wheat that you all knowThat's what wheat ears look like: Wheat field Culture Wheat is one of the most cultivated cereals in the world, with rice and corn It is produced worldwide, and unsurprisingly the biggest producers are pretty much the biggest countriesChina, India and Russia are among the top 3 places Nutritional values Nutritional values from bulgur are almost similar to what you can get with semolina (also made from wheat) If you are interested in that, here are the information I have found : Calories: 83 for 3.5 oz (ca. 100g) Proteins: 3%Carbs : 18%Magnesium: 0.03%Potassium: 0.06% So it's a food rich in carbs and minerals, but very low in fat Price of the bulgur Bulgur is often cheap, you can also find in several forms: The organic bulgur, its price is reasonable and you will enjoy all its benefitsThe supermarket bulgur, even cheaper and easy to prepareAnd finally the prepared meal, ready to eat, just warm Cooking The bulgur cooking is also similar to what you can do with semolinaThrow the bulgur in boiling water and then let it cook on a low heat for a few minutes to finish cookingThen you must rub the bulgur like semolinaWe can then warm slightly before seasoning and integrate it into the rest of the recipe A recipe in video I suggest here a recipe in video to cook your bulgur, so you can see step by step an original recipe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auFAwtqKenA Differences between quinoa and bulgur Plant The quinoa comes from the plant with the same nameBulgur is just a preparation method, it comes from crushed wheat Culture areas Quinoa is mainly produced in South America, climate and altitude are perfect for the plantAnd as the bulgur comes from wheat, it's cultivated anywhere, in the entire world. Climate is not a big deal to cultivate wheat Cooking You can cook quinoa the same way as classic rice, by cooking it 10 to 15min in waterTo cook bulgur, follow the same recipe as semolina, by adding boiling water on it, and let it absorb the water Nutritional values The main advantage of the quinoa is that there is no glutenBesides that, both bring proteins, fibers and essentials minerals Conclusion That's it, you now know the difference between quinoa and bulgurYou have seen how they are cultivated, produced and cooked, you know everything!