Τραχανάς Γλυκός Σούπα..."Frumenty" Soup.

I am about to present the background history of this grain and its use to make delicious soups, porridge, and side dishes. If you would be interested to read more go on reading if you are interested to read the recipe skip this part and go down to "You will need".....
Τραχανάς (pronounced Trahaná with the accent on the last "a") in English is Frumenty. Quoting Wikipedia from Google { Frumenty (sometimes frumentee, furmity, fromity, or fermenty) was a popular dish in Western European medieval cuisine. It was made primarily from boiled, cracked wheat - hence its name, which derives from the Latin word frumentum, "grain". Different recipes added milk, eggs or broth. Other recipes include almonds, currants, sugar, saffron and orange flower water. Frumenty was served with meat as a pottage, traditionally with venison or occasionally porpoise (considered a "fish" and therefore appropriate for Lent^[1]). It was also frequently used as a subtlety. For several centuries, frumenty was part of the traditional Celtic Christmas meal. In England it was often eaten on Mothering Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Lent. On that day many servants were allowed to visit their mothers and were often served frumenty to celebrate and give them a wholesome meal to prepare them for their return journey. The use of eggs would have been a brief respite from the Lenten fast. Frumentee is served with venison at a banquet in the mid-14th century North Midlands poem Wynnere and Wastoure: "Venyson with the frumentee, and fesanttes full riche / Baken mete therby one the burde sett" (334-5).^[2]
The dish, described as 'furmity' and served with fruit and a slug of rum added under the counter, plays a major role in the plot of Thomas Hardy's novel The Mayor of Casterbridge. It is also mentioned in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass as a food that snap-dragon flies live on.
It has been asserted that frumenty is "our [England's] oldest national dish".<sup>[3] }

For those who are bi-lingual in Greek and English please read " Τραχανάς Βικιπαίδεια" here below.</sup>

Τραχανάς

Από τη Βικιπαίδεια, την ελεύθερη εγκυκλοπαίδεια

Κονάρι: σπασμένο σιτάρι απαραίτητο για τον τραχανά.

Ο τραχανάς είναι ζυμαρικό φτιαγμένο από αλεύρι και γάλα και έχει σχήμα κοκκώδες και ακανόνιστο. Οι κόκκοι έχουν διάμετρο περίπου 2-3 χιλιοστά. Υπάρχει σε διάφορες ποικιλίες: ξινός και γλυκός, χοντρός και ψιλός. Ο τραχανάς μαγειρεύεται σαν σούπα είτε με αρκετό νερό, είτε πιο πηχτή. Ο χρόνος μαγειρέματος του τραχανά είναι συνήθως μικρός, περίπου 15-20 λεπτά. Ορισμένες φορές μαγειρεύεται και με ντομάτα.
Κατά την παρασκευή του τραχανά, το τελευταίο στάδιο είναι το στέγνωμά του. Για να γίνει αυτό ο τραχανάς απλώνεται ώστε να έχει τη μέγιστη δυνατή επιφάνεια. Η διαδικασία αυτή, το άπλωμα του τραχανά, έχει παραμείνει και ως λαϊκή έκφραση, που αναφέρεται σε κάποιον που αργοπορεί χαρακτηριστικά.
Στην Κύπρο ο τραχανάς φτιάχνεται από ψιλοσπασμένο σιτάρι (λέγεται και κονάρι κατά την Κυπριακή διάλεκτο) και ζυμώνεται σε κυλινδρική μορφή με, περίπου, λιγότερο από ένα εκατοστό διάμετρο και "απλώνεται" στον ήλιο για να ξεραθεί. Φτιάχνεται επίσης σε σούπα, συνήθως πιο πηχτή από άλλες σούπες. Δεν χρησιμοποιείται ντομάτα αλλά αυγολέμονο και, συνήθως, περιέχει κάποιο είδος κρέατος. Πολύ δημοφιλής είναι η σούπα τραχανά με μελισσοφάγους.

Quite interesting don't you think?? I will leave it up to you guys to arrive to your own conclusions.

My Version ...And The Quickest!

When it is cold outside, and you are still cold in your home because of insufficient central heating, or you have a cold, fix yourself such a soup and drink it while very hot. That cayenne will hit your ears, nose and throat like "wham" and you'll feel all warm inside from head to toe.

You will need:
Serves 3 as a soup.
-  1 full cup of this stuff.
-  8 cups of water.
-  1 chicken cube cut in little pieces.
-  1 beef cube cut in little pieces.
-  ½ Tbsp. (yes tablespoon) cayenne pepper. (I put 1 Tbsp. if it is for me).
Method:
-  Combine Trahaná, water, cubes, cayenne pepper and bring to a boil while stirring to dissolve cubes and cayenne.

-  As soon as the mixture shows signs of boiling, reduce heat immediately before if boils over.
-  Simmer for 20 minutes uncovered.
Note:
-  You can reduce the water to 6 cups if you want it less soupy and more pasta like.
-  You can add some butter if it is thicker.
-  You can add any kind of grated cheese to it.
-  You can add some pieces of meat to it and have it as a whole meal.
-  You can have it for breakfast by adding milk, sugar, raisins, cinnamon and whatever you little heart desires.
Just play with the water or the milk as the liquid. Sweet or savory....improvise like when you are playing a drums solo!!
Bon Appétit!!
Stelio