Under the snow…bread! – Story of a very special kind of pasta

Our elders used to say “Under the snow, bread…under the rain, hunger”.

It is one of my favourite proverbs, of a girl born and raised at 10 minutes from the shore but with mountains in her heart!

Today’s fairy tale (because it is so full of poetry and beauty and love for our homeland that it actually seems a happy ending tale!) starts from this ancient moral. Which is full of truth by the way, as only old stories’ moral could be and it is full of the wisdom of our ancestors, that never left this harsh area on Sibillini’s slopes: the village of Montefortino (Fermo province).

This harshness and this mountains’ loneliness scared young generations, but those who stayed and kept fighting for the beauty and the autenticity of these places only got back amazing gifts from these stones.

That’s the story of Regina dei Sibillini: a pasta manufacturing, who cultivates durum wheat in fields on arduous cliffs, perserved by a  snow-white-icy mantle. The snow that falls between November and March covers the harvest, hydrates it and protects it from freezing (that’s why snow is better than rain!).

Regina dei Sibillini is the surname locals gave to Priora Mountain, which stands above all Sibillini peaks when you look from Montefortino side. As mountain is the heart and the start of this tasty idea, it’s easily explained why black is the logo’s colour.

For me it is already a luck to wake up everyday with such a view (…and I admit I would just stare the panorama the whole time!). That’s why I completely understand Regina dei Sibillini owners’ choice to stay in this territory and to do something for preserving its rural economy.

Moreover, the fact that my pasta dish could breathe this air and enjoy this landscapes makes me feel more relaxed! (Ehi! It is important that my spaghetti arrive trim on my table! Within the good and the beauty of these mountains!).

All kinds of pasta, which are of course respecting classical shapes (simple & tasty & with no frills!), are made according to an handcraft process, drawned in bronze then put to dry at low temperatures.

If you want to enjoy a plate of traditional pasta with us… make sure you’ll be here for our next recipe! °v°