B. P. I.-57. - PI I>.— 34. 



II. -SARAGOLLA WHEAT. library 



,, , NEW YORK 



By I » a \- 1 1 > <i. 1- vim iin.i). Agricultural Kxplorer. r»/~>— .v, 



BC AL 



GARDEN 



[taly is the land of macaroni, and the best of this remarkable food 



product in tin- world is to be had in Naples. There seems to be an 

 agreeable flavor about Neapolitan macaroni which is characteristic of 

 it and which one does not find in the French or Spanish, oreven in the 

 north Italian made product. Macaroni a la Napolitona, with its sauce 

 made from the plum-like tomatoes that one sees hung up to dry every- 

 where on the walls of the narrow streets of Naples, must be tasted 

 within sight of Vesuvius before one can judge this national Italian 

 dish. 



In searching- for a reason for this superiority of the Neapolitan 

 macaroni, the writer's attention was called to the fact that an especially 

 fine-flavored variety is made from a native wheat called Saragolla, and 

 that this variety is made only in small quantities. Paradoxical as it 

 may seem to the American who is ready to pay any price for the best 

 food products, the very finest quality of Italian macaroni is not often 

 exported to America. This is a statement which the writer feels war- 

 ranted in making after interviewing some of the largest exporters of 

 macaroni, as well as the famous producers of Gragnano and Torre 

 Annunziata. The reason for this anomalous condition of the trade 

 lies in the fact that the very finest kind of macaroni keeps only a few 

 months, while the commonly exported article remains good for a year. 



In the days before the macaroni trade had assumed the proportions 

 that it now occupies in the commerce of Italy it was supposed that 

 only the hard wheats of Apulia and Sicily could be used in its manu- 

 facture, but as the demand for this foodstuff increased the hard 

 wheats of other countries were imported. Among these wheats those 

 from southern Russia, the so-called Taganrog varieties, proved best 

 suited to the demands of the manufacturer. They are now imported 

 in large quantities every year, and the majority of the macaroni is 

 said to be made from these imported wheats. Nevertheless the manu- 

 facturers still consider the durum wheat of the province of Apulia to 

 have a flavor superior to the imported varieties, and they place the so- 

 called Sarag-olla wheat at the head of all macaroni wheats so far as the 

 production of a fine-flavored product is concerned. 



