America Took a 60 Year Vacation From Flavour. Anson Mills Went Looking for It | Glenn Roberts

Glenn Roberts is the founder of Anson Mills, best known for bringing near extinct Southern grains like Carolina Gold rice back from seed banks and old family plots and into the hands of farmers and chefs. In this episode, he talks about what landrace seed actually means, why the women hand selecting corn were doing the work of PhD geneticists, and how rice pollen blowing across the Atlantic from Africa changed everything he thought he knew about growing pure seed. We get into aerobic versus anaerobic grain and why Anson Mills ships cold and mills cold, the old Italian idea of basso basso polenta (low, low and slow), why you should be soaking your grains and peas in good water, and the einkorn trick that turns a three day soak into something close to wine. Glenn also shares what climate change has done to his thinking, how the pandemic flipped Anson Mills from wholesale to retail in 90 days, and the new hand select sensory research nonprofit he is building next. If you have ever wondered why old varieties of corn, rice and wheat taste different, or what it takes to bring a lost food back, this conversation covers it. Find Glenn and Anson Mills: Website and recipes: https://ansonmills.com Instagram: Instagram: ansonmills The Wild Kitchen is produced by Silvercore. Learn more at https://silvercore.ca _____ Silvercore is built on a lifetime spent outdoors, on ranges and in the company of people who live with skill, purpose and integrity. Here you will find real conversations, fieldcraft, practical training, stories from the wild and the lessons that help us grow mentally and physically. Whether it is a podcast with someone who has been tested, a tip you can use today or a look behind the scenes, the goal is to help you live stronger, safer and more capable in the outdoors and in life. Silvercore Club members receive exclusive podcast episodes, online courses, insurance for their adventures and discounts on premium gear: https://www.silvercore.ca/club Online Training: https://www.silvercore.ca Training and Services: https://www.silvercore.ca/course/cate... Merchandise: https://www.silvercore.ca/collections... Blog: https://www.silvercore.ca/blog Host Instagram: Instagram: bader.tiffany Silvercore Instagram: Instagram: silvercoreoutdoors Contact: [email protected] 604 940 7785 www.silvercore.ca All content on this channel is for informational purposes only. Always follow the law, follow safe handling practices and train with qualified professionals. Silvercore assumes no liability for the use or misuse of any information shown here. _____ 0:00 Intro 1:00 From a TV station at 17 to rice at the San Diego airport 4:30 Babysat by Jesuits: nixtamal, masa and Native food culture 7:30 What landrace seed actually means 10:00 Native women winning the Iowa corn shows 11:30 Phenotypic plasticity and running maize 200 kilometres at a time 13:30 Heirloom versus landrace: managing plants that change 16:30 Tiffany's zucchini crossing disaster 18:00 Self pollinating versus open pollinated, explained 20:00 Rice pollen that blew across the Atlantic from Africa 22:00 Buffering fields and the year three blowup 24:00 A field day with 60 geneticists and 90 einkorn cultivars 26:30 Why landrace matters: base genetics and the CRISPR debate 27:30 GMO contamination and what "invasive" really means 31:30 The climate change wake up call 33:00 Hurricanes, flooded rice fields and short season crops 35:45 Aerobic versus anaerobic grain: why Anson Mills ships cold 38:00 Sean Brock and Carolina Gold rice 40:00 Cold milling, CO2 and families breathing on hand mills 43:00 Off grid communities in the ACE Basin 44:00 Basso basso polenta: low, low and slow 45:30 Alice Waters and a global culinary revolution 46:30 The 1,700 page recipe website built by Kay Rentschler 48:00 Soaking grains and peas: the amylase transition 49:00 Good water and the people who still worship it 51:00 Einkorn, 40,000 years old, and grain that makes its own wine 54:00 Smoked oatmeal and Tiffany's grandmother's oatcakes 56:30 Biosecurity, bioterrorism and screened geneticists 59:30 The pandemic pivot: wholesale to retail in 90 days 1:02:30 What's next: Hand Select Sensory Research Worldwide 1:04:30 Honouring the Native women who saved American food