Heralded as one of the most exciting cookbooks coming out this spring, Roxana Jullapat’s debut work, Mother Grains: Recipes for the Grain Revolution, explores eight ancient grains, weaving the unique characteristics and history of each with more than 90 recipes that explore delicious applications, both sweet and savory.

Originally from Costa Rica, Jullapat initially set out to have a career in journalism before finding her passion in the kitchen. She decided to attend culinary school, and afterward she worked at lauded Los Angeles restaurants, including Campanile, Opaline, Lucques/A.O.C., and Cooks County, and with renowned chefs such as Nancy Silverton and Suzanne Goin.

Jullapat is now pastry chef and co-owner, with her husband chef Daniel Mattern, of beloved Los Angeles bakery Friends & Family, which opened in 2017, and works with dedicated farmers and millers around the country to incorporate essential grains in every item on the menu.

Geared for both novice bakers/cooks and professionals alike, each chapter of Mother Grains focuses on a particular grain, studying its lineage and unique importance in American agriculture, along with its environmental and nutritional benefits and the various forms in which it is available. The ancient grains include barley, corn, buckwheat, oats, rice, rye, sorghum, and wheat.

Jullapat also includes sections on terminology, approaching and working with mother grains, sourcing, weights, and measurements (the recipes give both volume and more exacting metric measurements), along with pantry and tool suggestions and information.

Ancient as these grains may be, Jullapat makes them feel fresh and new, both with her captivating descriptions and through her tantalizing, and very modern, recipes.

Continue reading for the interview and recipe for Chocolate Dynamite Cookies….