When we say “isolated,” we mean something or someone far away from everything else, hidden away in an unconnected land that’s hard to reach. And of all the Italian islands, Sardinia is perhaps the one that best conveys this notion. To visitors it can seem like a remote place, even if widely celebrated and thoroughly explored.
The BBC reporter Eliot Stein reached the heart of Nuoro to recount the artisanal technique of making su filindeu, the rarest pasta in the world. The tradition of its preparation, which seems to be about 300 years old, has been passed down from generation to generation and has not been affected by the passing of time, remaining totally preserved.
Pasta-maker Paola Abraini showed the journalist how the pasta, which in Italian would be called “fili di dio” (God’s strings), is made. Currently only ten people in Nuoro (and in the world) are able to make it. Semolina flour, water and salt are patiently mixed until the dough reaches the ideal consistency. At this point, starting from the cylindrical shape given to the dough, it’s expertly pulled by hand, over and over, creating strings which will become thinner and thinner. They will then be hung out to dry on a flat disc in three overlapping and slightly crossed layers, until they form what looks like a fine net.
The local recipe calls for the pasta to then be broken by hand and served with a hot mutton broth and grated pecorino cheese.
But why is this recipe so rare?
Although Paola Abraini certainly doesn’t hide the secret of the process, and aspires to share it, it takes a great deal of experience to make it well. Jamie Oliver tried, giving it all his effort and patience, just like some students who have attended special classes to learn the tradition. The woman’s daughters have abandoned the tradition, and the intense amount of work necessary to prepare it makes it possible to produce only a very small amount: enough to supply three restaurants in the area and the pilgrims who come for the Feast of St. Francis of Lula, held in October.