Raw Food Expert Makes Buckwheat Crackers

Look at Julie's other hubs for My Best Pesto Recipe.

Raw buckwheat crackers are a staple in the raw foodie's diet and are used like bread. Luscious toppings shape-shift them into pizza crust, hamburger and hot dog buns, toast, pancakes, nacho chips, potato chips, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, anything depending on what you want to put on them. Thick buckwheat crackers with honey and smashed berries make a great pancake, and with raw relish, tomato, lettuce and onion, a hamburger (have you ever noticed that it's what dresses the hamburger that makes it taste "your way"?) Chips of buckwheat are thin, small crackers that mix well with innumerable dips and sauces, like salsa, pesto, olive tapinade, or even just a good olive oil or truffle oil.

The final purpose of the cracker can be a factor in how it's cut or shaped, i.e. one large round cracker is a pizza crust while smaller squares might be toast or a sandwich, and while a novice can figure out shape, they might be more concerned with thickness. At many raw food restaurants, the pizza crust style of a raw buckwheat cracker is thicker than the nacho chip style, and can stand up to a very wet sauce like a raw marinara, while the chip is thinner and holds a dryer, thicker sauce, like cashew cheese.

So, while variations in toppings, shape, and size may cause one to ponder the purpose of the buckwheat, there are three key factors that make the better raw buckwheat cracker, no matter what shape, size, or thickness prepared. These occur during the "process" of creating almost any of the common recipes that one gets online, or from a cookbook. These tricks are often unknown or not described in the recipe.

The first is sometimes mentioned in a recipe, but is worth repeating. Rinse, rinse, rinse....keep rinsing the soaked buckwheat. And don't just rinse it as a big glob in a big strainer, rinse small amounts at a time, so that it is thoroughly rinsed. This enhances the flavor of the cracker incredibly.

Secondly, when mixing all the ingredients in the food processor, take time to mix it until the batter turns creamy looking. There is a certain moment when, instead of looking like little, thick, pieces in a liquid, the product changes and looks like little thick pieces in cream. It takes a while to see the creamy look, and you might have to do it with pauses, so the batter doesn't get warm in the processor. We wouldn't want to kill our living enzymes!

The third important piece of the better buckwheat cracker recipe is to keep it in the dehydrator for a long time. Even though it may seem like the cracker is dried and finished, keep dehydrating for the length of the recipe and longer. It can't hurt the cracker to dry longer, and it's key for better flavor and texture. That's also my very favorite thing about making raw food. Nothing ever burns, and no dirty pots and pans. Good luck making great crackers!