Emmer wheat ✦

Blé amidonnier

What it is

Emmer is the middle of Italy's three farri - a species of its own, neither spelt nor einkorn - and it was the wheat of Roman puls, the far that bride and groom shared in the confarreatio marriage rite. It is a hulled wheat: the grain will not thresh free of its husk, which is exactly what lost it the field to bread wheat.

In the kitchen

Soak it overnight and simmer thirty to forty minutes; pearled emmer wants twenty-five and no soak. It should still bite back at the end - it will never go creamy, so do not try to stir a risotto out of it.

Goes with

Olive oil Pecorino Romano Borlotti bean Sage Porcini Guanciale

Same species

Bulgur Couscous Einkorn Wholemeal flour T45 flour T55 flour

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