Grano Arso

Literally, “burnt wheat.” After the threshing of the grain, the gleaners went into the fields to gather the few grains that remained on the ground. The fields were then burned to fertilize the land. The grain that had escaped the expert eye of the gleaners was burnt along with the stubble and remained on the ground. The poorest peasants gathered this burnt grain and milled it, thus making a black, smoky-flavored flour, which they added to other flours when making their bread and pasta. For generations a symbol of the abject poverty the people of the south long endured, today pleasantly smoky pasta made with what now passes for grano arso is sold as a niche product.