View source for Biology:Farro

{{short description|Food made from the grains of certain wheat species}}
{{other|Farro (surname)}}
[[File:Usdaemmer1.jpg|thumb|right|''Triticum dicoccum'', emmer wheat, produces what is sometimes called "true" farro.]]
[[File:Castel_del_Piano-Minestra_di_farro.jpg|thumb|right|A farro soup from Tuscany]]
[[File:Gamberetti su insalata di farro 01.JPG|thumb|right|Shrimp in farro salad]]
'''Farro''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|f|ær|oʊ}} refers to the [[Biology:Cereal|grains]] of three [[Biology:Wheat|wheat]] species, which are sold dried and cooked in water until soft. It is eaten plain or is often used as an ingredient in salads, soups, and other dishes.

==Definition==
Farro is an [[Biology:Ethnobiology|ethnobotanical]] term for three species of hulled wheat: [[Biology:Spelt|spelt]] (''Triticum spelta''), [[Biology:Emmer|emmer]] (''Triticum dicoccum''), and einkorn (''Triticum monococcum''). Hulled wheat is wheat that cannot be threshed.<ref>Szabó, A. T., and K. Hammer. "Notes on the Taxonomy of Farro: ''Triticum monococcum, T. dicoccum, and T. spelta''". Padulosi, S., K. Hammer and J. Heller, eds. 1996. Hulled Wheats. Promoting the conservation and use of underutilized and neglected crops. 4. Proceedings of the First International Workshop on Hulled Wheats, 21–22 July 1995, Castelvecchio Pascoli, Tuscany, Italy. International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, Rome. 2–3. Print.</ref> In Italian cuisine, the three species are sometimes distinguished as ''farro grande,'' ''farro medio,'' and ''farro piccolo''.<ref name="underutilized-species">{{cite web |access-date=December 23, 2017 |url=https://www.bioversityinternational.org/fileadmin/_migrated/uploads/tx_news/Farro_in_Italy_1266.pdf |title=Farro in Italy |author=Markus Buerli |year=2006 |publisher=The Global Facilitation Unit for Underutilized Species |via=Bioversity International}}</ref> In French the three species are sometimes distinguished as  ''grand épeautre'', ''moyen épeautre'' and ''petit épeautre'' — épeautre being French for spelt.

Emmer is the most common variety of farro grown in Italy, specifically in certain mountain regions of Tuscany and Abruzzo. It is also considered to be of higher quality for cooking than the other two grains and thus is sometimes called "true" farro.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/06/11/garden/farro-italy-s-rustic-staple-the-little-grain-that-could.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm |title=Farro, Italy's Rustic Staple: The Little Grain That Could |last=Hamlin |first=Suzanne |date=June 11, 1997 |work=New York Times |access-date=November 22, 2012}}</ref> Spelt is much more commonly grown in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Confusion about the terminology for these three wheat varieties is generated by the difficult history in the [[Biology:Taxonomy of wheat|taxonomy of wheat]] and by colloquial and regional uses of the term ''farro''. For example, emmer grown in the Garfagnana region of Tuscany will be colloquially known as ''farro''.<ref name="underutilized-species"/> Also, some English speakers assume ''farro'' refers to steamed or boiled grain presented as salad and similar dishes rather than to the three grains themselves.
Farro is sometimes inaccurately referred to as "spelt" in English, neglecting that the term refers to all three grains – emmer, einkorn, and spelt.<ref>{{cite book |last=Schlegel |first=Rolf H. J. |chapter=Farro |title=Dictionary of Plant Breeding |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryplantb00schl_099 |url-access=limited |edition=2nd |location=Boca Raton |publisher=CRC |date=2010 |page=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryplantb00schl_099/page/n161 149]}} Print.</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/30/magazine/30food-t-000.html?_r=0 | work=The New York Times | first=Heidi | last=Julavits | title=Grain Exchange | date=November 30, 2008}}</ref>

==Etymology==
The Italian word ''farro'' derives from the presumed Latin word ''farrum'', from Standard Latin ''far, farris n''.: a kind of wheat (as in [[Biology:Farina (food)|farina]]). ''Far'', in turn, derives from the Indo-European root ''*bʰar-es-'': (spelt),	which also gave rise to the English word barley, Albanian ''bar'': grass,  Old Church Slavonic брашьно (''brašĭno''): flour, and Greek  Φήρον (''phḗron''): plant deity.

==See also==

* List of ancient dishes and foods

==References ==
{{Reflist}}


[[Category:Cereals]]

{{Sourceattribution|Farro}}