|
Corti Brothers Newsletter for Spring 2006 Page 3 The word pasta first appears in Italian in a document from 1244 in the state archives of Genova. It is a prescription of a bergamasc doctor, Ruggero di Bruca who prohibits his patient from eating “pasta lissa,” slippery or smooth pasta. Neither the word “pasta” nor its generic concept existed in Latin. What does exist in Cato’s De agricultura, is the sheet of pasta, the “sfoglia,” fresh pasta rolled out with a rolling pin, called “tracta” from trahere, to pull. The Felicetti company in Trento produces excellent dried pasta and specializes in two monovarietal wheat pastas produced from ancestors of present day durum wheat. One is from tritticum turgidum truranicum called Kamut®. Kamut® is a registered trademark for a special wheat with a humpbacked kernel. Once thought to be a variety of triticum polonicum, it has the largest sized grains of modern wheat. Kamut® has more vitamins, proteins, and lipids than durum wheat which normally makes pasta. Kamut® has specific growing requirements and Felicetti has it grown in Canada to its specifications. When cooked, Kamut® pasta has a delicate, sweet flavor, with the scent of fresh bread. The Kamut® Selezioni Monograno has wonderful cooking properties with strong gluten in its protein and this wonderful flavor. The other specialty pasta Felicetti produces is from Farro, triticum dicoccum, one of the oldest of wheats that has been resuscitated in recent years. Farro is oftentimes confused with spelt. Spelt is similar, but another variety altogether. Farro pasta is extremely nutritious since farro itself is packed with vitamins, mineral salts and fiber, amino acids and proteins unique to it. The difficulty with farro is that it grows in extremely poor soil, in small plots, has a long stem, and lodges easily. All of this and the fact that it produces very few grains per head, (its traditional use is as a cooked grain,) leaves very little for pasta making. The difficulty of growing farro and its low crop level is only one example of why man improved cereal grains. He would have starved even more had he not. Farro Selezioni® Monograno pasta is produced from farro grown on only a few hectares in Umbria between Gualdo Tadino and Gubbio. Delicate and difficult to work with, this farro is milled with part of its hull to retain its nutritive and proteinaceous properties, but keeping it from being to bitter due to its “whole wheat” character. The color of the Farro Selezione pasta is reddish brown, the same as the skin color of the grain. When cooked, its texture is slightly different from that of Kamut® or durum wheat pasta. It is toothsome and attractive. Both of these special wheat pastas offer a delicious change in pasta. They are special, limited in production, not your everyday pasta, but could become addictive. There are four cuts to each of these single wheat pastas:
<< Back to Top |
Corti Brothers
Sacramento CA
