Su Filindeu: The Origins of the World’s Rarest Pasta

Su filindeu is a rare, handmade pasta crafted only on the island of Sardinia, off the coast of Italy. Su filindeu, which means “the thread of the gods” or “the threads of god” in the Sardinian language, is often called the rarest pasta because only one remaining family in Sardinia are experts at making the dish, which is labor-intensive and time-consuming to create.

The specific origins of su filindeu are unknown. However, members of the Abraini family, who live in Sardinia, in the village of Lula, near the town of Nuoro, have made it for more than 300 years. The women of the family have passed down the recipe and techniques over the centuries, with each woman taking care not to spill the secret to anyone else.

Paola Abraini is one of the remaining members of the family who still creates the labor-intensive dish. When the time comes for the Feast of San Francesco—the only time and place to serve the meal—Abraini works five-hour days for a month and creates 110 pounds of su filindeu pasta. Because there are fewer than 10 people alive who have perfected the technique, she is actively teaching people how to make the pasta.

Su filindeu earned the nickname of “the rarest pasta” and “Italy’s rarest pasta” because of its complexity and limited availability. Su filindeu remains rare because it is:

• Difficult to make: Pulling and folding the dough requires a very specific technique, which involves working the dough, adding saltwater at specific times, and going by feel, rather than sight, to develop the optimal elasticity.
• Hard to replicate: It’s difficult to learn how to make the Sardinian pasta dish. Fewer than 10 people in the world know how to make the pasta, and at least one celebrity chef and an Italian pasta manufacturer have given up after trying to replicate the dish.
• Not widely available: Locals and many in the food community around the world consider it a sacred dish, which is only served at the biannual Feast of San Francesco in the village of Lula, near the city of Nuoro.

As a result of its rarity, su filindeu landed on the Ark of Taste, a record that slow Food International keeps to document dishes that face extinction. The idea is to counteract the disappearance of local foods and cultures.

Very few people in the world know exactly how to make su filindeu, but the process is roughly as follows:

• Gather the ingredients. Su filindeu consists of salt, water, and semolina wheat.
• Knead the dough. Knead and work the dough extensively until it becomes thick and solid like clay and shaped like a tube.
• Pull and fold the dough. Create strands of pasta by folding the dough and pulling it into thin strands. Each batch should yield 256 strands of pasta. The thin threads should end up half as thin as angel hair pasta.
• Lay out the pasta. Using a circular platform, lay the pasta out in parallel strips. After the first layer, add a second, and then a third.
• Dry the pasta. Take the circular platform outside to dry in the sun.
• Break apart the sheets of pasta. A few hours later, retrieve the dried pasta—now hard, crisp shapes. Then break those sheets apart into individual pieces for cooking.

To serve su filindeu, place it into a boiling sheep’s broth or mutton broth. Then, grate Pecorino cheese (or sometimes sardo, another cheese) on top.

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