Two teachers, in charge of a group of 40 teenagers, were staying with me for two weeks before Easter. They came from Rivne, in the north west of Ukraine; a flat landscape which, in my mind, makes sense of the translation of Ukraine – frontier land.

They were surprised not to find buckwheat, which for them was a staple, easily on sale. I could show them roasted buckwheat which I often use when making bhajias (see recipe for potato and courgette bhajias) but no raw buckwheat was in my larder. Tesco’s magazine for April 2023 would have pleased my Ukrainian ladies – a recipe using a mix of raw buckwheat and quinoa is included in a robust salad. And that is a good start. I have now enjoyed adding cooked and cooled buckwheat (both roasted and raw) in various salads – especially delicious if the salad includes cooked vegetables.

I have two packets, both organic from Essential Trading. One, the roasted buckwheat, was the produce of The Netherlands and the raw buckwheat comes from China. I also have buckwheat used in the filling for my yoga bolster. There’s more of it around the more I start to look!