Spelt flour, turanic wheat and endless ears. The hills of the Marche are a chessboard of colours, in which the final move is always made by nature. The land is thriving, the fields are painted in the colours of life, the sun hits the ears of wheat and gives them a new shade of colour, like a large, sleeping chameleon. Agriculture is very important, on the hills of the Marche, and the cult of wheat cultivation is very close to the heart. Wheat, barley and spelt are the true protagonists.
Dicoccum spelt: Prometeo’s beloved product
When one thinks of spelt in the Marche,
Prometeo immediately comes to the mind, born in 1991 as a firm for the production and transformation of organic cereals and legumes. It is based in Urbino, and
dicoccum spelt is their beloved product.
Triticum dicoccum (this is its scientific name) is a
tetraploid that is obtained by doubling the genetic set of the
monococcum (diploid), which is the most ancient cereal (its origin dates back to 12 thousand years ago).
Prometeo has spread very much over the territory and despite being based in the Marche, it works with over two hundred farmers located all over Italy, down to Apulia. The relationship between producer and farmer is very strong and is based on reciprocal exclusivity. The firm, at the beginning of the season, commits itself to buying the entire production of the farmer, deciding the price of the product upon sowing time, while the farmer guarantees
Prometeo that the cultivated spelt will only be given to the firm itself.
Spelt spaghetti by Prometeo
’s production is destined to those who love organic food but also to anyone who enjoys eating well. The firm produces flour that is then sent to food producers who use spelt.
Prometeo receives grains that are still hot from the fields, and that are straight away unloaded into the silos that represent a lung for the harvest. At that time, the processing of the cereal begins, starting from a machine that cleans it, removing impurities, and then de-hulls it, until the grain reaches the mill and is finally transformed into flour.
Prometeo uses a mill with natural stone, which is much different from the artificial one. The former is better, since the stone is constantly beaten to renew the milling and works with a lower number of turns, so that the flour is not overheated. The second, instead, has an artificially composed stone made with stones and cement mixed in a random way, it turns around more quickly and heats up the flour. With this kind of processing, there’s an often-undervalued risk that one could find a minimal percentage of cement that crumbles down during the milling in the pasta.
1. to be continued
