The ancient Lucanian flours of the Arleo mill
"Where I was born I learned two things: packing suitcases for those who left and disclaim those of those who came back"
They are the verses of the Poet Lucano Francesco Arleo, cousin of the characters of the story we are about to tell you.
Antonio ArleoIn truth the suitcases of him never made her, indeed he made sure to hold back in this land even the two sons of him, making a beautiful and ancient craft, that of the miller.
We are in the splendid area of the Pollino National Park, in the municipality of Castronuovo di Sant'AndreA, a handful of inhabitants who find themselves dealing, like most of the municipalities, with a slow and inexorable depopulation.
We have been to visit the company and the fields in which the grain is grown.
Let's talk about land at around 900m SLM, far from industrializations and pollution, a show for the eyes and for the soul.
We returned several times, to see the grain grow, to find Tonino (Antonio) at work with his sons Alberto and Valentino and wanted to share with you a few moments, you find it in the video that follows lasting about three minutes.
Tonino made a precise range choice: stay on the part of the quality to the detriment of the quantity. And then he stipulates contracts with farmers recognizing more value but thus making sure a grain that responds to him goals of him: producing flours starting from variety of ancient and local grains recovered and brought to light.
We first talk about the flour Carosella and that ofMixer, and then of theSaragolla.
But how many types of flour exist? The most notes and used are semolina flours (or durum wheat) and tender wheat flours, which derive from two different whreatments.
Durum wheat loves hot climates, it has ears with large beans and small heads, vice versa the tender wheat grows in high and has small ears and large heads. From the tender wheat processing you get 00 flour, flour 0, type 1 flour, type 2 and integral.
From the processing of durum wheat you get semolina flour, full flour and milled semolina flour
From a nutritional point of view the wheat is composed of glucides (starch, pentuses, cellulose and lignin), proteins (albumins, globulins, glutenines and prolammine), lipids, mineral salts (mg and k, salts of ca, fe, cu, zn ), Vitamins (B, e).
In reality the different types of flours have different combinations of such nutrients, for example the soft wheat flour is rich in starch but poor protein and gluten, so it has a lower nutritional value than that of durum wheat.
The flours produced by the Arleo mill (Carosella, Saragolla, Mixer) are flour with high nutritional profile and with a series of characteristics that make them absolutely preferable to traditional flours.
Here's some
-
they have not undermined changes
The ancient grains have only high ears with dark shades and irregular beans as they have not been genetically modified and for this they have a much less yield
-
they are less refined
The flour produced by ancient grains is much less refined than that produced with modern grain. Thanks to this type of processing, in fact, there is a product that we could consider semi-integral, or compared to flour 0 or 00, the nutritional properties present in the grain are maintained much more. The presence of a greater amount of fiber in this type of flour has a series of beneficial effects on human health that goes from the regulation of intestinal motility up to the prevention of tumors
-
They have a minor glycemic index than traditional flours
The glycemic index (IG) is the property of a food to stimulate greater or lower insulin secretion. For example if you feed with rice that has an IG 117, you will have a greater request for insulin and this will send excess calories quickly to storage tissues. If instead feeds with an equal portion of ancient flour, (especially a member or rye, Ig = 50) rich in proteins, compound glucides and fiber, this function will slow down.
In addition to the value of the rediscovery of these ancient grains in terms of biodiversity, equally important is to try to continue to make them live and grow for their historical and cultural value. The ancient populations are mainly sustained with these cereals that ranged from area to zone depending on the environmental conditions. A beautiful heritage to be protected in short, so as not to forget the origin of our lands.
Dr. Anna Cosentino
Nutritionist biologist
You can find our selection of flour Clicking here
