L'Italo-Americano

italoamericano-digital-2-18-2021

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2021 www.italoamericano.org 28 L'Italo-Americano F a r r o i s n o w trendy because of its health bene- fits, but here in Umbria it's been a staple for over 2000 years. In ancient Rome, farro flour was the ingredient of choice to make puls, a sort of porridge served with veg- e t a b l e , b e a n s , p e c o r i n o cheese or — for the upper classes — with lamb or pork. Farro flour was also used to make savillum, a soft cake m i x e d w i t h r i c o t t a a n d served drizzled with honey, a n d a l s o g n o c c h i w h i c h were fried in olive oil. Farro was so important, that a marriage ceremony named confarreatio was exclusively reserved to patri- cians. The rite involved the bride and bridegroom shar- ing a cake of spelt, named in Latin far, or panis farreus, hence the rite's name. The ceremony also included a sacrifice to Jupiter Farreus, that is Jupiter of the wheat. There is even a legend to explain the modern Roman tradition of eating gnocchi on Thursdays. The ancient Roman gnocchi were made w i t h f a r r o a n d n o t w i t h semolina or potato like now. T h e s t o r y g o e s t h a t Thursday, the day dedicated t o J u p i t e r , m i g h t h a v e remained connected — in a f a i r l y l o o s e w a y — t o t h e dumplings made with the cereal sacred to the god. But what is farro? Farro is a heritage wheat with a characteristic nutty flavor and a high protein and f i b e r c o n t e n t . T h e t e r m "farro" is a collective name u s e d f o r t h r e e s p e c i e s o f grains: emmer, einkorn and spelt. The best farro, and the most delicious, tender lentils a r e p r o d u c e d n e a r Castelluccio di Norcia, a tiny village located on a lone- ly outcrop in the centre of the Piano Grande plateau. This is a site of spectacular beauty and fantastic food, d o n ' t m i s s i t i f y o u v i s i t Umbria! In this recipe, the use of ginger, instead of classics like rosemary or sage, might seem exotic, but in reality ginger was used in Italian cuisine until about 500 years ago. Then it disappeared, but it feels appropriate to intro- duce it in such a timeless recipe. Modern farro is generally LETIZIA MATTIACCI This soup includes ginger among its ingredients: not many know that, up to 500 years ago, its use was common in Italian cuisine (Photo courtesy of Letizia Mattiacci) Continued to page 30 Farro, ginger and lentil soup LA BUONA TAVOLA RECIPES COOKING TIPS SEASONAL DISHES

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