L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2018 www.italoamericano.org 18 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE G reeks and Romans offered spelt to the Gods, Aztecs con- sidered chia seeds worthy of tributes, and farro is noted in the Old Tes- tament. Today, approximately 70% of cultivated land is des- tined to the production of cere- als, mostly wheat, barley, rye, rice, millet, sorghum, and corn. No other plant has influenced the history of man like wheat, whose cultivation can be dated back to 12000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent, that area of the Middle East extending from Egypt to the Persian Gulf. It dates back to 9,000 years ago the beginning of an aware selection of cereals favoring those with a stronger blade in the domes tication process of triticum. The oldest type of grain is triticum monococcum is a small spelt dating back to 10,000 years ago and has a simple genetic structure; triticum dicoccum, now only used in some parts of Tuscany, was used by ancient Romans; triticum durum derives from a genetic mutation and is used for pasta; spelta, spelt, is another variation through cross- ing with a spontaneous grain; triticum aestivum has several varieties and is the youngest of ancient grains. What does "ancient grain" mean? These romantic words bring the mind back to ancient Egyptians and Jews, who are credited with the invention of yeast and the preparation of bread around 4,000 BC, even t h o u g h i t w a s a c t u a l l y t h e Greeks who mastered the art of bakery, brought it to Sicily and then to Rome. Bakery was so important that production of bread was under a judge's juris- diction and its price was con- trolled. Ancient grains, however, do not only refer to the ancient past, but to the great divide created by the so-called green revolution of the mid-20 th century. At that time, in order to decrease world hunger, various techniques - like gamma, x, and UV rays and irra- diation - and products - like chemical fertilizers - were used to produce species which could y i e l d h i g h e r c r o p s . A n c i e n t grains are those cereals, some of which date to the 1930s, with a common characteristic: they h a v e r e m a i n e d o r i g i n a l a n d derive from an historical biodi- versity. In Italy there are almost 300 types of ancient grains, of which the best known are Senatore Cappelli, Biancolilla, Etrusco, Frassineto, Madonita, Maiorca, Perciasacchi, Rieti, Russello, Timilia or Tumminia, and Verna, among many other. Since the dawn of agriculture, Man has always tried to improve cultiva- tions. The criteria used were very simple: productivity and flavor. With industrialization, criteria changed: while produc- tivity remained important, flavor was substituted by resistance to industrial processes. Modern g r a i n s h a v e a h i g h e r g l u t e n index and allow for more elastic doughs which better endure ther- mal shocks. As a consequence, for example, drying times for pasta have gone from 24 hours to 2-3 hours at a temperature of 120 degrees celsius, instead of 30-40 degrees celsius, and the higher gluten index makes pasta more durable. The problem with modern grains' gluten is not so m u c h i t s p e r c e n t a g e b u t i t s strength: while in ancient grains it has a 40-80W strength, in modern grains it reaches 350W which make it more inflammato- ry than the former. In Italy, the first species of modern grains were Castelfu- sano, Castelporziano and, in the 1970s, Creso. Until a few years ago, ancient grains were set a s i d e i n f a v o r o f t h e h i g h e r yielding modern grains. Accord- ing to FAO, 75% of plant variety has been lost and 60% of world f o o d i s b a s e d o n 3 c e r e a l s : wheat, rice and corn. Of these, o n l y a f e w m a n - c o n s t i t u t e d hybrid varieties are cultivated because they are higher yielding (40-50 q/ha instead of 20 q/ha) and sturdier thanks also to their "dwarfization" which avoids l o d g i n g , a l l o w s t h e u s e o f mechanical harvesting of grains, supports the earlier sprouting of the blade or ear and produces less biomass, which allows more nitrogen to reach the grains. As if lower production were not enough, ancient grains seeds are much more expensive than modern grains. Notwithstanding t h e s e f a c t o r s , c u l t i v a t i o n o f ancient grains is booming in Italy. In 2017, Senatore Cappel- li's production has doubled in comparison with the previous year. This is due not only to a greater attention to the environ- ment and to a wish to maintain local biodiversity, but also to the nutritional characteristics: lower gluten, lower sugar, high pro- teins and other elements like magnesium, potassium, calcium, zinc, B and E vitamins. Further- more, this type of grain does not n e e d h i g h m u c h w a t e r a n d resists well to parasites. The Società Italiana Sementi (SIS, I t a l i a n S e e d s S o c i e t y ) h a s encouraged the return of this grain because, as Mario Conti, its president, states "Senatore Cappelli, thanks to its genetic characteristics, is proving to be suitable to new cultivation needs with high organoleptic standards which fulfill the demand of a good and healthy nutrition." S t o n e g r i n d i n g i s t i e d t o ancient grains cultivation. This p r o c e s s a l l o w s t h e c o m p l e t e preservation of the germ as well as the kernel nutritional value with no alteration of lipids and phenols, which are responsible for the enhanced taste of finished products. In Western Sicily, Fil- ippo Drago of Molini del Ponte, s t a r t e d i n v e s t i n g i n a n c i e n t grains and stone grinding in the 1980s. "It started out of a local need," he states. "In Castelvetra- n o w e h a v e t h e t r a d i t i o n o f 'black bread', which used to be made only on Sunday, when bak- eries were closed by law, and one could buy bread only in the countryside. The grain used to make this bread is the variety called Tumminia and it got its name because, by using stone mills, the flour comes out a nutty color instead of white. It used to be eaten as 'pane cunzato,' sea- soned bread, hot out of the oven w i t h o l i v e o i l , s a r d i n e s a n d cheese." Drago has several stone mills, two of which date back to the 1800s, but they are starting to mill the tumminia with a modern machine: "The difference will just be the color, instead of being a nutty color it will be a white flour, but the characteristics will be the same. The point is that with stone mills we can only grind up to 180 kilos/hour and with a cylinder machine we can mill 2000 kilos/hour." Flavor? "Flavor depends on the terroir, and this is what we strive to keep. That is why our bread has the aroma of chamomile and dill: the first ingredient is Sicily." On the other side of Sicily, in Raddusa, Giuseppe Li Rosi culti- vates ancient grains and pro- d u c e s f i n i s h e d p r o d u c t s l i k e flour, pasta and cookies. "The producer who wants to manage this type of grain must dedicate at least 10 hectares to each cul- ture, maintaining the grain puri- ty. These techniques date back to t h o u s a n d s o f y e a r s a g o a n d require patience. The first year, crops are not high but the second and fourth year the yield is much higher." I n E u r o m o n i t o r ' s 8 F o o d Trends report, healthy living is recognized as one of the eight megatrends, with ancient grains being called out as an example of this trend in action, and of con- sumers' preference for "naturally functional" foods. According to NPD's Supply Track, a service that tracks products shipped from distributors to more than 700,000 foodservice operators, case ship- ments of quinoa and amaranth increased by 18.5% and 19.4%, respectively, in the year ending October 2017. Similarly, spelt and farro also experienced dou- ble-digit growth in case ship- ments over this time period.  (For writing this article, a special thank you to the Depart- ment of Agricultural Engineering of the University of Palermo, Italy, and to Doctor Maurizio Polizzi) PAULA REYNOLDS In Italy, there are almost 300 types of ancient grains Feeding Italy for millennia: the history of ancient grains

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