SPELT: In French it is referred to as engrain, or the wheat of the Gauls. Abundantly popular up until the Roman era, it was then forgotten, and abandoned, partly due to its low yields. However, in the area around Sault, at the foot of Mont-Ventoux, some farmers have always kept up production of this spelt, and continue to grow it to this day. The fields of spelt can be seen in the mosaic of colours in the heart of the summer. Intermingled with the deep purple of the lavender, you have the shimmering gold of the spelt fields. Today, spelt has conquered an important place in the club of the major cereal grains, and this “grain gold”, is part of local gastronomy..

Spelt from High Provence belongs to the category of hulled wheats. Its talk, flat stalks are characterized by the presence of large awn. Spelt has a fragile axis which makes harvesting somewhat difficult. It is a rustic grain and grows in cold climates, at altitudes common wheat cannot accept. Spelt also thrives in poor soils and requires little input, which helps explains its survival in areas with severe winters and soils which are too poor to grow wheat. Today, the growers of organic spelt have obtained the label certifying the “protected geographic identification” (IGP). Current production levels stand at 150 to 200 hectares, for some fifty growers throughout Vaucluse, the Alpes de Haute Provence, Drôme and the Hautes Alpes.

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