The Cooking and Cuisine of Umbria

[Chufi]

I have a bunch of beautiful red, yellow, orange and ruby chard stalks in the fridge. is there anything typically Umbrian I can do with them for dinner tomorrow? I can get porcini at my market.. or something that looks like them anyway.. would they go together?

[hathor]

Klary: keep them separate. Serve the porcini on pasta, and serve the chard as a contorni.

The Umbians like their flavors separate. What can I say??

[mrbigjas]

However, I just checked the site Hathor mentions and am linking it here since it is wonderful:

Umbria in Bocca.

carp stuffed with garlicky lard. fantastic.

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Do I sense sarcasm?? Don't mock the lard! Lard is good. Bacon tastes good....pork chops taste good.... (name that film)

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hells no! you should know me better than that by now...

[Kevin72]

Our inaugural Umbrian meal Saturday night kicked off with "bruschetta alla Hathor": bruschetta topped with the pan seared pancetta and vinegary drippings Judith mentioned above.

I then continued my four month streak of being unable to cook an item exactly as the recipe dictates. Starting with the green olive sauce for pasta in Boni's book (Pontormo also began her cooking for the month with this one), I also mixed in finely chopped cooked mushrooms, salami, and fennel seeds. Then it went over homemade fettucine:

Nice, robust, autumn fare--our weather is back to more "seasonal" temps--though the salami really dominated the dish. Standard tart salad afterwards, no main this time.

[hathor]

However, I just checked the site Hathor mentions and am linking it here since it is wonderful:

Umbria in Bocca.

carp stuffed with garlicky lard. fantastic.

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Do I sense sarcasm?? Don't mock the lard! Lard is good. Bacon tastes good....pork chops taste good.... (name that film)

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hells no! you should know me better than that by now...

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I humbly bow in apology! You're right...I should have known better!

[hathor]

Nice looking pasta, Kevin! I've never served the pancetta on bread..but, that's a great idea.

Umbrian cooking is nerve wracking...you keep cutting back, learning to trust the simple ingredients. I'm not kidding when I say its more difficult that making a great sauce. You can't cover up and mis-steps.

Check out these two cook 'pamphlets' that I picked up in Pietralunga yesterday. Real straightforward recipes. Could use an index, or some explanation where the individual recipes came from. Lots of egg recipes.

[Kevin72]

Yeah, the bread sops up all the vinegary pork fat/olive oil. It's probably heresy in your parts to do it that way, but I can keep a secret.

[FoodMan]

Great looking food Kevin! Anything topped with Pancetta cannot be bad, no matter where you live. That pasta looks perfect as well.

My first Umbrian meal was pretty straight forward, but I guess, like Hathor assures us, that is the Umbrian way.

I made broiled trout, stuffed with garlicky breadcrumbs, and seasoned with salt and pepper. The recipe is from Anna de La Croce's Umbria book. I really loved how the flesh of the fish was perfumed with the garlic from the filling.

From the same book I also made the roasted garlicky potatoes and fennel (I believe she calls them ala Porchetta as she does so many other things). These were tossed with a good dose of olive oil and baked till crispy.

Seems like Umbrian, as opposed to Neapolitans, do love their garlic, huh.

A simple tomato salad with the end of summer tomatoes. I love this simple recipe from Marcella Hazan's essentials. Simply, let some crushed garlic macerate and falvor olive oil and vinegar. Peel tomatoes (using a peeler it is very very easy and makes a big difference IMHO), slice them and toss them with the strained garlicky dressing and some basil.

I had also baked some Pane Di Terni, pretty much the only Umbrian bread I found in Carol Field's Italian Baker book. It is saltless, but is made with a long fermenting starter (biga), so the flavor is just amazing and very earthy. This sopped up the tomato salad juices very nicely.

BTW, I am really thinking about making a smaller version of Porchetta this month. I'll prbably use Batali's recipe in his first book for the actual pork. Any idea what kind of bread to use for the sandwich? Will a ciabatta work or maybe the bread above made into some kind of roll?

[Kevin72]

I'd say a variation of the bread you made. Was it saltless? Something that can soak up all that pork fat and juice. I'm afraid I can't continue with my response; I'm making myself too hungry just thinking about it.

[hathor]

Nice meal, Elie! I never really thought about it, but raw garlic as a flavor shows up quite a bit, and porchetta can be very, very garlicky. The bread roll should be white flour, saltless, crunchy crust, soft inside. I have some Umbrian bread recipes, I'll dig around and see what I come up with.

I have not been a fan of the salt-less bread, that's an understatement. I just hated it, but little by little, I'm going native and its starting to taste good to me.

In the Marche, cooking "in porchetta" means to cook with fennel. I should ask around to see what it means to my neighbors.

edit because I mixed up rosemary and fennel. The word for roasting meats with rosemary is "in potacchio" because that is the sound you make when you spit out the rosemary.

Edited October 9, 2006 by hathor (log)

[Pontormo]

"With Little or Nothing"--now that's my kind of title for a cookbook!

Elie: Beautiful meal, as always, especially the potatoes* and the perfect loaf. This weekend I just couldn't bring myself to take any tomatoes home from the market, so your simple condimento is something I can't quite replicate. There's only a handful of last week's plum tomatoes that are not quite ripe.

Kevin: perfect grill marks on your bread! I overlooked the pasta recipe in Boni and picked up mine on the internet.

There are so many of us who own Ada Boni's book now, I am determined to use it for more than research this month. One thing I noticed is a lack of contorni. She sticks to primi, meats and desserts for Umbria & Le Marche.

Klary: Welcome back! Now, where are you? Were you able to purchase porcini at the market?

Judith's wonderful blog from Montone** inspired me to make a pot of lentil soup which I've been enjoying in the evening, adding slivers of beet greens when heating it up to avoid making a salad. Dash of red wine vinegar, ground pepper and finally, a dusting of cheese.

Judith: Speaking of your lentil soup, what distinguishes the prized lentils of Castelluccio from others? One thing I noticed from your blog is that the Green Heart's pulse (her pun, folks) stayed intact, like Le Puys. As for the vegetable I mistook for parsley:

HEADS UP: OCTOBER 15 is the day that the annual Sagra del Sedano begins in Trevi.

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Finally, if anyone knows anything particularly interesting or simply nourishing from Umbria to prepare with any of the following ingredients, I am all ears:

pork chops (Kevin, I did note your entry in last year's blog which sounds good)

potatoes (from farmer's market, meaty, phenomenal)

fagiolini (farmer calls them French Fillets. Beautiful, thin, perfect)

colored bell peppers (lots)

apples (ditto)

*Buttercup squash* (really would be interested)

No cream or green olives left in the house. Fresh herbs: sage & parsley and some sad, blackening basil leaves.

FOOTNOTES

*An Australian documenting his journey through Umbria on SlowTravel notes that it is best not to order potatoes in Italy as his friend cautioned him. Italians don't know how to cook them, he reports. He also notes that he and his wife had gotten into the habit of ordering separate side dishes since the main course they selected never seemed to arrive with vegetables of any kind.

**Braccio di Montone is the name of a Renaissance mercinary soldier who briefly took one of the cities Judith visited last week. Assume the source of the town's name as well?

Edited October 10, 2006 by Pontormo (log)

[ghostrider]

I'm not sure what the protocols of this type of thread are, other than folks cooking Umbrian dishes, but since hathor's blog put me in a reminiscing frame of mind, I'll just offer a couple of observations based on a week in Umbria.

Our time was divided between Spoleto and Gubbio, both wonderful places, each with its own distinct character. The cuisine in the Spoleto restaurants seemed more varied and pan-Italian. I guess you might expect that, given the festival that blows into town every summer and the town's proximity to Rome. What I remember most, though, is that every restaurant seemed to have a bottle of wonderfully green and fragrant olive oil on the table. It didn't matter whether the place was an upscale ristorante or the humblest trattoria, the oil was intensely sweet and good. I've never found another town where the table oil was that consistently delectable no matter where you went. You can generally count on good oil in Italy, but Spoleto's kicked it up a notch; the town seemed blessed with superb oil, at least in that year.

Spoleto had a great little market square part way down its hill (one thing both towns share is steepness!) where I was able to stock up on fruits and cheese.

Gubbio's cuisine was more stark and simple, just as the town itself seems more rugged than Spoleto. Many of the restaurants had an open hearth for the simple grilled meats that are a staple there, as noted elsewhere. I was most struck by the herb mixtures that were rubbed onto the meats before grilling, even the excellent beef; it was a intriguing combination of floral and meaty flavors that I haven't found elsewhere.

Maybe I was attuned to it, but the food shops in Gubbio seemed to have local herb mixtures more prominently on display than in other areas I visited. I wondered whether that was a particularly local tradition and what lay behind it.

And of course there were the truffles, but I'd just be redundant so I'll stop here.

[Chufi]

Klary: Welcome back!  Now, where are you?  Were you able to purchase porcini at the market?

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no. The porcini sign was up there, but below it were bunches of ridiculously expensive, yet sad-looking asparagus . I hope I'll have better luck later in the week!

[Pontormo]

A patriotic Umbrian dish called La Bandiera consists of sweet local green bell peppers, finely chopped onion and tomato, seasoned simply with salt, pepper and olive oil. It seems fitting on a holiday added to the calendar in the United States to give Italian-Americans a sense of pride.

Anna del Conte published a variation on the regional tradition in her book on Northern Italian cooking, listing a number of red, white and green vegetables to be roasted together in layers. In light of Judith's recommendations, I kept it simple and longing for the roasted potatoes that appeared in her blog last week, I chose to accompany them with red bell peppers and zucchini and left out the tomato passata. They were plated to resemble the flag, yet spaced so the different vegetables touched only the browned bits of their own kind.

I served the contorno with an equally simple pork chop, marinated and later cooked with garlic, ground fennel seed and sage, to hell with Mario. Pan juices mingling with olive oil were finished off with a little more of the white wine I added after searing the meat. A little lemon.

Salad was yet another form of La Bandiera, with tender, tiny rucola leaves, deep reddish purple beets and shards of shaved Pecorino in honor of the nourishment sought by the newly born lambs wobbling in the dewy grass.

Edited October 10, 2006 by Pontormo (log)

[Kevin72]

Last night's dinner began with Etruscan Soup from della Croce's book:

Spelt and chickpeas mostly, cooked with the standard aromatics, pancetta, and a bit of tomato sauce. The tomato part, my addition, is an anachronism since tomatoes weren't around when the Etruscans were.

Then we had my "Umbrian ribs" that I discussed on my thread last year. Batali ground into my head that Umbrians utilize lots of pepper, fennel, and rosemary to flavor things and I've run with it. So I crust a rack of spareribs with the above seasonings, bake them for a few hours, then toss them on the grill to get a smokey flavor to them. On the side, mushrooms with chilies.

[Kevin72]

Ghostrider, your observations are perfectly in keeping with these threads: not just cooking, but any eating experience you've had there and observations on the cuisine you can share. Welcome!

[ghostrider]

Thanks. Those ribs look terrific!

I haven't been quite able to duplicate the herbal flavors we found on the grilled meats in Gubbio. It's probably the fennel that I've been missing; it wasn't a dominant note but it may well have been in the mix. Must try.

I kept the labels from the herb packages that I'd bought there, a product of Francescano Natura Assisi.

Erbe Aromatiche: thyme, marjoram, rosemary, powdered sage, parsley. Recommended for grilled meats.

Aromi dell' Umbria: thyme, marjoram, rosemary, oregano, savory. For roasted & grilled meats, fish; also includes a tomato sauce recipe.

[hathor]

Ciao!

Sagra del Sedano....where else would you find a celery festival?? The list of sagras every week just cracks me up, the minutest ingredient gets celebrated. Black celery does sound pretty cool, though.

The chestnut festa in Morra is next weekend...apparently that's a big festa.

Pontormo, I love your list of instock foods!!

The porkchop sounds good! Butter and sage is the classic pairing...it would be good on just about anything. I had it for lunch on ravioli!

Braccio Fortebraccio is our town's most famous citizen. He was actually awarded a thorn from the crown of Christ as a getsture of thanks. The thorn makes offiical appearances on Easter monday and at the conclusion of our big August festa.

Ghostrider: Spoleto and Gubbio are both favorite cities of mine. You're right, they have very different characteristics. Austere and stern Gubbio hides a very soft heart, friendly people, good food and the world's largest Christmas tree. I'll let you google that up yourself....bizarro!

La Bandiera! It's a fun dish to make and to serve. I can't tell you how many times this summer I wound up with chopped ingredients the color of the Italian flag. Given the national obssession with food..who knows, this could have been the inspiration.

We had a pretty classic Umbrian dinner last night. Mixed grill of maiale. Basically thinly sliced pork chops and strips of raw pancetta (as opposed to the cured, bacon-y kind) that had been rubbed with rosemary, thyme and garlic. I didn't feel like building a fire to grill the meat, so I simply pan fried it in some EVOO and added a small shot of red vinegar right at the end. This makes a spectacular mess by the way.

I really wanted to make Elie's potatoes with fennel, but my fennel was all yucky. So, we had puree of potato with truffles. mmmm.....

We also had some stuffed tomatoes. Stuffed vegetables: peppers, zucchini, onions, tomatoes, are an art form here. Ours were stuffed with breadcrumbs, some pecorino staginato, and a little garlic. Forgot to take a picture...oops.

Nice ribs Kevin!! I do love ribs!!

[Kevin72]

I'm not sure if it's used alot in that area (Judith/Hathor may have further comment) but the herbal flavor you have difficulty replicating may be mentuccia or nepitalla, a mint-type herb used alot in Central Italy that is reminiscent of mint, oregano, and fennel.

Thanks.  Those ribs look terrific!

I haven't been quite able to duplicate the herbal flavors we found on the grilled meats in Gubbio.  It's probably the fennel that I've been missing; it wasn't a dominant note but it may well have been in the mix.  Must try.

I kept the labels from the herb packages that I'd bought there, a product of Francescano Natura Assisi.

Erbe Aromatiche: thyme, marjoram, rosemary, powdered sage, parsley.  Recommended for grilled meats.

Aromi dell' Umbria: thyme, marjoram, rosemary, oregano, savory.  For roasted & grilled meats, fish; also includes a tomato sauce recipe.

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[Pontormo]

Judith:

1) What did you do with your cardoons?

2) Are the lentils different--other than remaining more intact?

3) Is winter squash a local staple at this time of year?

I found one recipe for the latter in which the squash is cubed and sauteed with pieces of chicken, then flavored with sapa and sage. Sapa is apparently made by cooking the must of red grapes with white grapes until a concentrated syrup is formed. Since I already have homemade molasses made from pomegranates and another from sour cherries, this might be interesting to do with pork.

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Kevin: As for the addition of tomatoes to the chickpea and farro soup, think of it as a precursor to the use of catsup in the U.S. Superior, really. Would you mind divulging how much you had to spend on farro in your hometown? How widely available is it? I've had no success trying to convince Whole Foods to carry it. It's so much better than the unhulled wheat berries and emmer wheat is grown here in the midwest, I believe.

[hathor]

Judith: 

1) What did you do with your cardoons?

2) Are the lentils different--other than remaining more intact?

3) Is winter squash a local staple at this time of year?

I found one recipe for the latter in which the squash is cubed and sauteed with pieces of chicken, then flavored with sapa and sage.  Sapa is apparently made by cooking the must of red grapes with white grapes until a concentrated syrup is formed.  Since I already have homemade molasses made from pomegranates and another from sour cherries, this might be interesting to do with pork.

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I'm going to tackle the cardoons tonight. I found a recipe in the "Con Poco" book that says you can soak them in salt water and then fry them. Hmm..... It also says you can do the same thing with 'gobbi", but I can't find a translation for gobbi, other than hunchback.

Lentils....see below. I'm finally posting a late intro to Umbia!

edit: p.s. I would definetely try the 'sapa' with pork. I've seen it called 'vino cotto', and I love it for both sweet and savory foods. I also like to put it on a spoon and eat it.

Winter squash? I'm not sure what you mean. There is a large, pumpkin like squash called 'zucca' that is eaten at this time of year. Come to think of it, there are lots of wacky squashes that show up in the market at the this time of year. There is a long (as in 2 meter long), fat squash, yellow skin, orange interior that is just wonderfu. You buy it by the hunk...meaning they wack as much as you want off of the squash.

Edited October 10, 2006 by hathor (log)

[hathor]

Here is my late 'intro' to Umbria. My apologies for being so late!!

We have Giosue` Carducci, the Tuscan poet and winner of Italy’s first Nobel Prize in Literature, to thank for the marketing slogan “The green heart of Italy.” The description is apt; Umbria is in the heart of Italy and the fields can be green for most of the year. It is in the center of the Italian peninsula; a land locked region that has no coastline and no foreign borders.

Of all the regions in Italy, it may be the easiest place to image yourself going back in time. Medieval hilltop villages dot the countryside, looking exactly as they did in medieval times, touching the stone walls transports you back in time. Those picturesque villages are also evidence of a violent past. The top of a hill is a good place to spot the enemy coming and it’s easier to protect yourself. Most of the stone walls that protect the cities have little niches built into them so the pigeons can roost there. “How charming.” you say. In times of siege or famine, these pigeons were a prized food source. As romantic as Umbria is, the people here have led hard lives, living off the land has taught them to respect nature. Umbrians are very tied to the land and its traditions. There is an old proverb, roughly translated as, “We have always made it this way, and we are happy.”

There are traces of civilization dating back to Palaeolithic and Neolitic periods. The region takes its name from the “Umbri’ tribe that settled here around 1000 BC. The Umbri’s were eventually conquered by the Etruscans, who were in turn conquered by the Roman empire. The Cartagines, headed by Hannibal, who may or may not have had his elephants in tow, massacred 15,000 Roman soldiers in 217 BC. With the fall of the Roman empire, the Barbarians and a host of other invaders subjected Umbria to devastation and famine. Eventually Christianity brings a sort of order to the region, and by the 4th century, there were 21 recognized dioceses. There are continuous battles over the centuries to gain control of the area, with the Church gaining and losing power regularly, and internal warring over the territories is common. In 1860, Umbria, probably with a sigh of relief, joins the Italian federation. During World War II, Umbria has a strong partisan resistance, and is heavily bombed by the German forces. These days, Umbria is a peaceful place known for excellent quality olive oil, good wines, and simple, but delicious food.

Eating local. Eating in season. This has become a fashionable trend in the world in general, Slow Food was born in Italy. But in Umbria, this has always been the way you eat. Food is celebrated and eaten when it is at its freshest and in its prime. Although Perugia is an ancient city, it never attracted the nobility like Florence or Venice; the complicated spices and dishes that the nobility like to eat are not present in most Umbrian meals. For the most part, this is food of the contadini, or farmers. That’s not to say that all Umbrian food is rustic, as the region certainly participated in the Renaissance, and they are influenced by the neighboring regions of Tuscany, Lazio, the Marche and Emilia-Romagna.

Let’s look at some of the food products that Umbria is famous for.

Norcia, in the southwest corner of Umbria, tucked away in the mountains, is famous for its pork products, cinghiale and black truffles. The city is so famous for its sausages, that the word Norcineria has become snyonomous with pork or cinghiale butcher.

Norcia is also famous for its black truffles; however, many other towns in Umbria claim to have truffles, both black and white, that are also superb.

Lenticchie di Castelluccio, or Lentils of Castelluccio are famous throughout Italy. They are tiny, green lentils, very tender, and high in protein and mineral salts. This precious lentil is cultivated in the high plain area (1400m/ 4600 ft. approx) area around Castelluccio where the cool, dry air is critical. These lentils do not require soaking and will be cooked in 20-30 minutes.

Farro or spelt is an ancient grain, cultivated near Monteleone and Spoleto. It has been eaten since ancient roman times, but lost popularity when wheat began to be cultivated. Farro must be milled with a stone and water in order to separate the grain from the plant and it was more difficult than wheat. Farro has recently regained its popularity due to is flavor and health benefits. Farro with its hull should be soaked for 12 to 48 hours, and then cooked for about one hour. Hulled faro can be cooked within 20 to 30 minutes.

The black celery or sedano nero of Trevi has local fame. Trevi began cultivating this species of celery in the 18th century and it was sufficiently popular that it was commonly found in all local markets until the end of the second World War. The sedano nero has a strong fragrance with soft fibers and is remarkably flavorful. And it must be in season now as the Sagra is this coming weekend.

Foligno has cultivated a particular two species of long beans that are renowned for being soft with a very delicate flavor. The ‘fruetteto’ can be found in both green and yellow varieties.

There is an onion that comes from Cannara, and it is so fabulous, that it is even reputed to be tolerated by people allergic to onions.

Everything I’m reading is attesting to the incredible health benefits of these various vegetables. The superlatives are incredible, to the point where you go, “Huh???” But, who am I to scoff, there is an article in today’s paper about some 109 year old woman and her 100 year old friend.

Umbria has a number of lakes and streams that provide fresh water fish. Lago Trasimeno is famous for its eels, carp and perch. There is a red fresh water fish, called ‘barbo’ whose flesh is poisonous if eaten raw. Good to know…don’t eat any red, raw, fresh water fish.

If you really want to read superlatives….Perugia is mad about chocolate. There is a hotel dedicated to chocolate: all”Etruscan Choco Hotel di Perugia. There is a massive chocolate extravaganza called “Eurocioccolata” that brings in people from all over the world. Why Perugia and chocolate? I can’t find anything that explains the historic link between the two. “Il cioccolato e` madre, amante e padre all stesso tempo.” Chocolate is mother, lover and father all at the same time.

Umbria is also renowned for its olive oil. There are olive groves everywhere you look, mixed in with the vineyards. Although our olive trees are puny and spindly compared to Puglia’s trees, they still manage to produce excellent quality oil. (Puglia’s trees are giants compared to Umbria’s!)

Meat is the primary source of protein. The pig is revered for all the good things that pigs provide: pork meat, salumi, sausages, porchetta etc. etc. Traditionally a pig is slaughtered in the early winter, and its meat and meat products will feed the family until the following winter. Lamb is also very prevalent, popular and delicious. Scotto ditto is small, gnarly, gristly bits of grilled lamb that are divine. Scotto ditto means burnt fingers , and that’s what you get when you grab a hot piece of lamb and start gnawing away at it! All sorts of game are eaten: wild boar (cinghiale), lepre (wild jack rabbits that are alarmingly big…as in whoa! Did you just see that???), all sorts of game birds. There is even some sort of small, thrush like bird that is spit roasted and eaten. I’ve heard all different stories about the legality of eating these birds and I really don’t know the truth, other than I’ve had them, and they are really, really tasty.

Bread is eaten at lunch and dinner. It’s always present on the table, its also saltless. It’s an acquired taste. ‘Nuff said.

And yes, there is wine. The beautiful, lush, complex, spicy Sagrantino’s di Montefalco are a perfect compliment to the lamb and game dishes. Orvieto Classico is a pure, crisp white that is perfect for a summer meal. There are also plenty of small production local wines that never make it beyond Umbria’s borders. The most famous desert wine is ‘vin santo’. Around my area, the vin santo is stored in a fireplace chimney where it acquires a smoky flavor that is highly prized. I think it is just plain awful, but don’t listen to me. They make fun of the Toscanos who keep their vin santo stored in the bedroom, they think its silly.

Deserts are usually tortas, or cakes with fruit toppings. Most desert cakes are sort of dry and stand up well to being dunked in vin santo.

Food preparations are simple and rely on the quality of the ingredients. Even if you can’t get the elusive white potato from Pietralunga, buy what ever is local and in season, savor its particular flavor, and you will be cooking in the Umbrian style.

Edited October 11, 2006 by hathor (log)

[Pontormo]

Brava! Thank you, Judith for the articulate overview and beautiful, beautiful pictures.

My Garzanti translates "gobbi" same as your dictionary does, however, online Italian sources suggest that "cardi gobbi" are simply cardoons. Are there different types?

What I often do is attempt a google image search just on Italian sites when up against an unfamiliar culinary noun. That led me back to the Umbria in Bocca site where the recipe for Cardi Gobbi is translated as "Cardoons" in its English translations of recipes.

I didn't realize "vin cotto" is the same as "sapa." I know I have access to the former. However, for just a drop or two, I hope my substitutions do not seem out of place.

I have seen the squash you mention. I know zucca is used a lot for soup and simply roasted with olive oil or made into gnocchi with butter and sage, etc. Just wasn't sure how much it is part of local diets. It complements both lamb and pork, so...

[Kevin72]

This was spelt, not farro. Are they the same? I dunno. I could attend an entire semester on the differences (similarities?) between the two and not be able to tell.

I bought it bulk and it wasn't terribly expensive, but then I only bought maybe two cups' worth.

On a side note, just in the past year, I've noticed gourmet shops selling sapa and mosto next to the balsamic vinegar.

Kevin: As for the addition of tomatoes to the chickpea and farro soup, think of it as a precursor to the use of catsup in the U.S.  Superior, really.  Would you mind divulging how much you had to spend on farro in your hometown?  How widely available is it?  I've had no success trying to convince Whole Foods to carry it.  It's so much better than the unhulled wheat berries and emmer wheat is grown here in the midwest, I believe.

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ETA: Hadn't read Judith's intro writeup, so I missed that farro and spelt are the same.

Edited October 10, 2006 by Kevin72 (log)

[Kevin72]

I wouldn't worry too much about being late with the intro, Judith. After all, we basically got a weeklong intro with your fabulous blog!

I'll also recommend that you try to track down Umbrian reds. They're very robust and peppery and match up perfectly with the big flavors of the regional cooking, especially roasted or grilled meat.