Buckwheat blinis

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	Bukwheat

Strictly speaking, buckwheat isn't a cereal. It's a plant, native to Russia, belonging to the same family as rhubarb and sorrel. The English name comes via Holland and means "beech wheat", because the grain looks like a beech nut. Several different cultures have adopted it for batter cakes. Americans serve soda-risen buckwheat pancakes for breakfast. The galette bretonne served in crêperies throughout Brittany has a proportion of buckwheat flour in it. In Russia, buckwheat was often used in blinis (sometimes without any plain flour). It's also the basic ingredient of kasha, a kind of porridge-polenta that is almost a national dish.