Buckwheat (the seed of a starch plant, Fagopyrum esculentum, which is not a true cereal) was long considered a poor man’s grain, partly because it cannot be made into bread, and partly because it is very hardy and thrives on poor soil. Whole, husked buckwheat grains go into kasha, the staple peasant food of Central Europe and Russia. In Russia, Brittany and the Auvergne, its flour is mixed with wheat flour and used to make leavened pancakes — blinis, gelettes and these bour