Grain
Farro
B tier
Farro is a culinary trade name for ancient hulled wheats—chiefly emmer (Triticum dicoccum), with einkorn and spelt sometimes sold under the same label—prized for chewy, nutty berries in salads, soups, and risotti-style farrottos. Italian grades farro piccolo, medio, and grande roughly track einkorn, emmer, and spelt; true culinary Farro most often means dehulled or pearled emmer. Pearled Farro cooks faster with less bran; whole Farro keeps more fibre and chew. Cracked, rolled, soaked, and fermented preparations extend Farro beyond whole-berry cookery into porridge, breads, and flatbreads, while flour appears in rustic pasta and loaves.
Also known as: Farro della Garfagnana, Farro medio (emmer), Farro piccolo (einkorn trade), Farro grande (spelt trade), Retail pearled farro
Track this ingredient
Characteristics
Preparations
Traits
History
Emmer and einkorn—the cores of farro identity—were among the earliest domesticated wheats of the Fertile Crescent.
Roman agriculture relied heavily on emmer (far) before common wheat dominated, founding Italian farro culture.
Farro persisted in Italian regional cookery while industrial wheat took mass markets.
Protected designations such as Farro della Garfagnana elevated regional farro as a heritage product.
Heritage-grain interest revived Farro as a specialty salad and soup berry worldwide.
Global retail standardised pearled and whole Farro packs, sometimes mixing emmer with spelt labelling.