Flour

Flour, an Italian product beyond wheat

Flour is a fundamental ingredient in Italian culinary tradition. Pasta, bread, biscuits and a wide range of Italian cakes and desserts are made using traditional recipes, in which every flour has a distinct effect on the finished dish, and is therefore chosen accordingly.

Italian cooking makes use of both a variety of refined flours and the wholewheat version. Depending on the recipe, the flour may be soft or durum, or corn and other cereals. Among these alternatives, hemp flour is recently experiencing a resurgence in popularity. Another excellent type of Italian flour is that produced with legumes, for example with chickpeas, to make farinata, or with chestnuts.

In Italy, soft wheat is primarily grown in the north, in the Po Valley, while the durum kind is prevalent further south, where the climate is more favourable for their cultivation. Alongside soft and durum wheats, throughout the country many alternative ancient types of grain are also cultivated, whose characteristics have been tried and tested over the years in harmony with nature.