Farro, emmer, is a healthful barley-like grain of the Triticum dicoccum family with a nutty delicious taste. This ancient wheat was cooked by Romans two millennia ago and is still much used in the western parts of Tuscany and in the Abruzzo, where it appears in thick, hearty soups and salads. Farro is now available in this country both crushed and in whole grains—see the Source Guide to Ingredients—but if you can’t find it, substitute spelt, barley, kamut, or soft white winter wheat berries, which must first be soaked and drained.
