Parched grain is a delicacy prepared by roasting the ears in an iron pan (1 Samuel 25:18; 2 Samuel 17:28; Leviticus 23:14; Ruth 2:14). Roasting the grain was a quick way to prepare food and would also allow it to remain good for a while and be eaten without further cooking. Such food was thus especially suitable for journeys and the battlefield.1
17 And Jesse said to David his son, “Take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers.