Meet the Maker – Minardo & Sicily's Ancient Grains

Traditions and ingredients passed through generations

Giorgio Minardo opened his pasta workshop in Modica, in the south-east corner of Sicily, in 2007, after years spent researching wheat varieties that had all but vanished from the island. That research is the reason Minardo pasta tastes the way it does.

The hunt for lost wheat

It started with a question nobody could easily answer: which wheat varieties had Sicilian farmers actually grown before industrial agriculture arrived? Minardo began digging into the genealogy of the grain being sold as "traditional," working with the Stazione Sperimentale per la Granicoltura in Caltagirone, Sicily's grain research station.

Between them, they traced and recovered three varieties that had almost disappeared: Russello, Timilia and Senatore Cappelli – wheats that had fed Sicily for centuries before being pushed out by higher-yielding modern strains.

Bronze drawn and slow dried

Minardo pasta is made from nothing but these ancient Sicilian grains and mineral spring water, certified organic throughout. It's bronze-drawn – extruded through a rough bronze die rather than a smooth industrial one, for a surface that holds sauce incredibly well – and dried slowly at low temperature, rather than fast at high heat.

The result is a pasta many people find easier to digest, with a texture and flavour that's noticeably different from anything mass-produced.

19 shapes, one philosophy

Minardo now makes nineteen different shapes from Russello and Timilia wheat, from long cuts like Linguine and Pappardelle to little soup shapes like Ditali and Anelletti. A few worth knowing:

• Busiata lunga – a twisted Sicilian classic, traditionally served with pesto alla Trapanese

• Paccheri – large tubes, big enough to stuff

• Calamarata - named after calamari rings, a southern Italian favourite with seafood

• Whole wheat gemelli and penne – deeper and nuttier than the standard versions

Certified organic, €4.90 per 500g pack.

Find an extensive selection in store in San Gwann, or order online with free delivery in Malta & Gozo.

Shop Minardo Pasta online at the Farmer's Deli.