Ever heard about “farro” ? it’s an old cereal used in the past on our mountains especially in the Lucca area , spelt in English.
Since I was a child my grandmother told me about this special kind of “brown rice “she tasted by her friends in the Garfagnana district. At those times – about 40 years ago – it wasn’t possible to find it in Pistoia , neither raw to be cooked nor cooked in the beans soup as the tradition & my grandma remembered…
The fact is that it was an old kind of cereal that came back to Pistoia’s tables in the last 15 years as a salad ( just boiled as rice & adding chopped cherry tomatoes , oregan & capers , extra virgin olive oil & served cold in the summer time ) or in the traditional way : boiled in brown beans broth , garlic, some black pepper & again EVO on it!
Think that the SlowFood Movement did a lot about this : preserving old varieties of vegetables, cereals, fruits,beans , cheeses & everything weren’t on our tables since decades now it is part of our life again, as food is a crucial point of our lives & for our future.
So happy even the new generations – as my daughter – love it in both ways as it became ,with years , a common dish as could be nowadays cous cous – not an Italian dish at all – and not only in Tuscany, even outside my region.
My grandmom Gina would love to knowing this..💓finally the partcular tasty “brown rice “is easly available in our supermarkets , in restaurants & at home!
