Galette Essenienne

I bought this at Pousse-Pousse, the little boutique where I buy my sprouting seeds and where I collect my weekly Campanier baskets. It is a sort of thin flatbread, made with sprouted seeds that have been ground and dehydrated. There are different flavors, depending on the seeds that have been used, and I chose the leek one (well, of course). The galettes (or rather randomly broken pieces of it) are packaged up in little trays wrapped in plastic.

It's called Essenian because recent research seems to indicate that two millenia ago, the members of the Essenian brotherhood (to which some claim Jesus may have belonged) followed a diet very similar to today's "live food" eating guidelines, in which you mainly eat raw food, sprouted seeds, and food cooked at an extremely low temperature to preserve the nutrients and vitamins. And those guys made the same kind of sprouted seeds galette, which they let dry under the blazing Palestinian sun. Fascinating.

The texture is crunchy, but not as much as a cracker, more like bread crust, and the taste is very unusual and intriguing : there is the overall flavor of leek sprouts, it's a bit salty with a peppery kick, a little earthy like whole wheat products, with a subtle afterhint of bitterness.

The taste was so peculiar I couldn't exactly determine whether I liked it or not, but it was very interesting, and in trying to make up my mind I ate a fair amount of it - for the sake of gastronomical research, brows furrowed and a quizzical look on my face - so I guess it must be kind of good.

In any case I'm always thrilled to lay my hands on things I've never tasted before, and this is the type of appetizer that you can serve your guests (well, those with adventurous tastes) and be sure an interesting conversation ensues!