Ancient traditions brought to light
Fields of buckwheat, like those of rye, are an integral part of the local landscape and their changing shapes and colours over the various seasons offer a genuine spectacle. Known locally also as furmentùn, it is not actually a cereal, but a herbaceous plant. It is sown at the beginning of July, but already in September its delicate white-pink flowers blossom, and full maturity is reached in the month of October. Cultivating rye requires time and patience. It is, in fact, a slow-growing cereal. It is sown in autumn, but only at the end of June are its blond ears ready for harvesting and for subsequent drying on stone slabs in well ventilated rooms. After the harvesting of rye, in accordance with crop rotation, the fields are prepared to welcome the seeding of buckwheat. In this way, within the time frame of a single year, a second product is obtained. Buckwheat, in fact, in contrast with rye, grows rapidly.
Read more The threshing of buckwheat, after the phase of drying in sheaves, takes place in accordance with a traditional ritual, handed down over the centuries. The sheaves of corn are first spread out on a large hemp cloth, called a pelorscia. The threshers then arrange themselves in pairs, facing each other, and with their flail (a tool to thresh wheat, known locally as a fiel) they alternate their blows with a precise and regular rhythm. In this way the ears of wheat are cleaned of any impurities, preparing them for milling. Originating from the southern regions of Siberia, this herbaceous plant arrived in Europe through the ports of Genoa and Antwerp, quickly spreading into various regions. The first citing of the presence of formentùn in the fields of Teglio dates back to the mid-16th century and in 1616 the Swiss historian Guler von Weineck confirmed that it was widespread in the middle Terziere of the Valtellina. Until the first decades of the 20th century, buckwheat was the staple food element in Valtellina, to then be replaced by wheat and maize. Since the late 1990s, however, we have witnessed a gradual resumption in the cultivation of buckwheat, not only in Valtellina, but also in various locations in the Alps and Apennines. This renewed interest is also due to the fact that buckwheat is totally gluten free and possesses important nutritional qualities. Today in Teglio approximately 18 hectares of land are devoted to growing buckwheat, partly using autochthonous seed and partly imported, coming from Northern Europe. A constantly increasing production that runs the risk of compromising the original Teglio seed, an asset that many are committed to preserving.
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