Durum
Wheat
Presented by Justin Salberg
Origins
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Abyssinia
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Archaeological
Evidence
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Modern Day Ethiopia
Cultivated in Byzantine
Egypt just before rise of
Islam
Arabs spread the crop
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Mid-East
Genoese document
about macaroni: 1273
History
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Domestication
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10-15k BCE
Difficult to track
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Tria—Italian
Aletria—Catalan
Itriya—Arabic
Al-fidawsh—Muslim
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Fideo-Spanish
Fidelli-Italian
On “the scene” in 13th C
Pasta credit given to
Roman gods or Chinese
Revolution…of a sorts
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Durum wheat allowed
cultivation of numerous
marginal lands

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Land used for grazing
or occasional growing
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Flexible
Semi-arid
Could now produce
significant yields
Expansion of rural
settlements
High energy food
Uses
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Pasta, pasta, pasta
Base in Arab cooking
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Replaced some other
wheat varieties for
breads
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Gnocchi, soup, stuffings
Fine grind makes flat,
round breads
Pilafs
Couscous
Why Durum?
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Drought resistant
Can be stored for up to 60-80 years
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Germinability

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Little to no energy lost in protein conversion
Export crop
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3-5 years; 30 years under best conditions
Primarily used for human consumption

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Low water content
Though domestic markets have grown considerably since
its introduction
Receives a specific premium price

Berlin Summit 2000-2006
Durum Wheat Today

Monsanto

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525 million dollars
Grown in
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S Europe
N and S America
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North Dakota!
North Africa
Former USSR
Genetic Engineering and
Breeding

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Improve energy and protein
content
Eliminate disease
vulnerability
Introduction to the United States

USDA researchers brought Durum back from Russia

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Most mills wouldn’t accept it
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Early 1800s
USDA pushed hard
Controversy
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Domestic preference for bread, but durum wasn’t white
flour
Bleaching
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Harmful to humans?
Demand grew with WWI and WWII
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Dropped after until the 1960s
Today’s pasta market
Semolina

Semolina produces
pasta
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Coarsely ground durum
Grain size is best
indicator
Pasta-Making

1st C. AD

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Apicius’ treatise on the art
of cooking
Production of pasta for sale

15th-16th C.

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Primarily made in the home
by artisans
1933: First continuous
pasta press

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Pasta consumption has
increased
Changed from occasional
to everyday
Organic, Sustainable…and Countertops?
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Built-in drought resistance
Organic production and sales
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TorZo
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Wheat straw
Midwest Organic and
Sustainable Education Service
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Purcell Mountain Farms
Homegrown Harvest
Rustichella d’Abruzzo
Co-ops
501(c)3—nonprofit, tax-exempt
Arizona Grain
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Desert Durum
Issues
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Pesticide treadmill
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Pirimifos Methyle,
Diazinon, Alachror,
Carbaryl, Vinclozonil,
Diclorvos, Permetrina,
and Malathion
Monocropping
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Fertilizer
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Little use of organics
Soil Erosion
Questions or Comments?
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Fun facts
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October is National Pasta
Month
In the 13th C. the Pope set
quality standards for pasta
More than 600 different
pasta shapes
One bushel of durum can
produce enough pasta for
one person to eat three
times a week for 70 weeks