If fine food is your thing, Italy has got to be your biggest crush. The Mediterranean nation is a deep well of deliciousness, teeming with everything from iconic cheeses and high-elevation wines to pizza and some of the best olive oils on the planet. Perhaps it’s no surprise then that Italy is also home to the rarest pasta in the world.
Born in a small village in Sardinia, this special pasta continues to be made today, albeit by just a handful of the locals. Dubbed su filindeu, this pasta comes in a broth and is treated to some pecorino cheese. The dish goes back generations, something to the tune of 300 years, and it involves such an intricate design you’d think it was the work of a 3D printer. Assembled by hand, like so many delicious pasta varieties in Italy, su filindeu ends up being made of hundreds of individual strands, and when complete, looks almost like high thread count fabric.
Chances are good you’ll never try the pasta, but at least you’ll know about it.
A true original
While some have tried their hand at su filindeu, most fail. Even celebrity chefs have attempted — unsuccessfully — to create this dish. Presently, just a few in the village of Nuoro know how to make the stuff. That puts the pasta in jeopardy of fading away, except for the fact that the families are working to pass the expertise on to the next generation. The stretching process is a work of art, and in the end, there are multiple layers assembled in a big circle before the pasta is broken up.
On the table, su filindeu is almost like a soup (think tortellini en brodo), served in a mutton broth. This is a special occasion dish, usually reserved for a mere two meals per year, on May 1 and October 4. Sardinians trek in from afar to revel in this eye-catching and decidedly scarce pasta.
The painstaking process
Surely, a lot of trial and error has gone into su filindeu. The dish is incredibly intricate, with the semolina dough folded into minute threads much narrower than even angel hair. The name translates to “threads of God” in the local dialect, an apt name for the pasta. Part of the Ark of Taste, the dish epitomizes the slow food movement. Just 10 people are known to possess to know-how to make the pasta, but that number will likely increase as the next generation takes over and the community at large works to broaden awareness around the ultra-limited edition dish.
And that’s just the beginning. We’ve got related content on the best Italian cocktails. Don’t forget to check out our feature on making Neapolitan-style pizza at home. Mangia!
