Farro is a grain of any of three species of wheat, namely einkorn, emmer, or spelt, sold dried and cooked in water until soft. It is used as a side dish and added to salads, soups and stews.

Etymology

The English word is borrowed directly from Italian farro, first documented in English in 1828 when the botanist Samuel Frederick Gray mentioned it. It derives from Latin far, farris (spelt, grain).

Description

Farro is made from any of three species of hulled wheat (those that retain their husks tightly and cannot be threshed): spelt (Triticum spelta), emmer (Triticum dicoccum), and einkorn (Triticum monococcum). In Italian cuisine, the three species are sometimes distinguished as farro grande, farro medio, and farro piccolo. Emmer is the most common variety of farro grown in Italy, specifically in certain mountain regions of Tuscany and Abruzzo. It is considered to be of higher quality for cooking than the other two grains and thus is sometimes called "true" farro. Spelt is much more commonly grown in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Confusion about the terminology for these three wheat varieties is generated by the difficult history in the taxonomy of wheat and by colloquial and regional uses of the term farro. For example, emmer grown in the Garfagnana region of Tuscany is locally known as farro. Some English speakers use farro to mean steamed or boiled grain presented as salad and similar dishes, whereas in Italy it means the three grains, individually or together. Farro is sometimes translated as "spelt" in English, but this is only one of three possibilities.