Emmer: the original grain for perfect al dente pasta

Back to the original grain! Emmer (triticum dicoccum) is one of the oldest cereals cultivated by humans.

The firm and robust ancient grain has not been genetically modified and ensures al dente pasta with the perfect bite and slightly nutty flavour.

Rapunzel Pasta Speciale – the original from Italy

Our Italian pastificio produces the new emmer pasta in the traditional way, using just two ingredients: the ancient grain emmer and pure spring water from the unpolluted Cesane plateau. Slow drying at low temperatures means that the pasta retains its natural, characteristic flavour.

So far, only specialists and enthusiasts have been growing the old grain again. Some Italian farmers in Umbria and the Marche region are such enthusiasts. They know and appreciate the advantages of this robust variety. There is now finally enough emmer for all varieties of Rapunzel’s existing spelt pasta range.

In a nutshell: Emmer is...

as compatible as spelt
rich in fibre and full of minerals
pristine & not modified by cultivation
a contribution to sustainable agriculture, biodiversity & the preservation of old varieties
protected from harmful environmental influences by the husk
the perfect grain for crunchy, nutty pasta

Emmer is particularly valued for organic farming to promote biodiversity.

History & cultivation

Emmer originates from the fertile Mesopotamia region between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, where finds date back to 8,200 BC. It was also the grain of the Egyptian pharaohs. When Caesar defeated Cleopatra, he is even said to have taken emmer wheat back to Rome with him as victory goods.

Emmer was one of the most important cereals in Europe until the Middle Ages. However, the intensification of agriculture from the 18th century onwards with the cultivation of higher-yielding hard and soft wheat varieties increasingly displaced the original grain.

On the ear of emmer, two grains ripen from each heel of the spike, hence the name “two-grain”. The stalks stand far apart in the fields. This gives the soil more light and creates a warm climate - which in turn promotes biodiversity.

The grain is firmly enclosed in the husk, which protects it from harmful environmental influences and fungal infestation. Only after the harvest does the mill separate the husk from the grain.

Even though emmer is less productive to grow than wheat varieties and requires much more effort to process than rye or wheat - the effort is worth it for perfect pasta on the plate and more sustainable agriculture in the field!

Agricultural engineer Francesco Torriani checks the quality of the spikes in the field.

Science: What is emmer anyway?

Dr. Friedrich Longin

Emmer (triticum dicoccum) is one of the oldest types of grain. Like spelt, it belongs to the large family of wheat grains and is therefore a relative of our bread wheat, albeit a distant relative. Crossing between emmer and wheat is not possible.

For Rapunzel, Dr Friedrich Longin has summarised the essential information about this ancient grain, which has been unjustly forgotten. He heads several research projects on emmer at the State Seed Breeding Centre at the University of Hohenheim.

Emmer originally comes from the Fertile Crescent, an area that includes parts of present-day Syria, Iran and Iraq. Alongside einkorn, it was the main source of carbohydrates and minerals in the human diet.

Emmer was an important cereal in Europe until the Middle Ages, but was then gradually replaced by the higher-yielding varieties of spelt and bread wheat.

Like spelt, emmer is a husked grain, which means that the grain is firmly enclosed in the husk and remains in it during harvest. The grains are only de-husked in a separate step in the mill.

This means that the grain remains completely protected in its husks until it reaches the clean mill and should therefore be colonised by fewer air pollutants or germs than wheat grains. Emmer is currently only grown on a small scale – by specialists and enthusiasts. But demand is growing, and rightly so.

For the farmer, it represents a new variety that enriches his crop rotation and thus increases biodiversity in the fields. This not only provides long-term protection against disease epidemics and climate change in the field, but also provides a habitat for many plants and animals threatened with extinction. The long emmer straw offers them protection.

Emmer cultivation is therefore active environmental protection. Emmer can thrive on poorer soils or later in the crop rotation.

Quality characteristics

Emmer is closely related to durum wheat and therefore has a harder grain. This makes emmer the first choice for pasta production.

Emmer tends to have a higher crude protein and gluten (=glue) content than spelt and wheat. However, the quality of emmer gluten is completely different to that of spelt and wheat. In contrast to wheat, emmer has significantly more gliadins than glutenins in its gluten.

Glutenins are known to have positive baking properties, which is why they were strongly favoured in wheat cultivation in the 20th century. Emmer, on the other hand, has been little cultivated.

Special ingredients

Like spelt, wholemeal emmer is very rich in minerals, e.g. iron, zinc, selenium and manganese, which the human body cannot produce itself and which must therefore be taken in through the diet. Wholemeal emmer also provides important secondary ingredients. Emmer seedlings are rich in vitamin E, which acts as a radical scavenger against oxidants and thus protects important cell structures in the human body.

A 10 to 20 per cent higher concentration of folic acid was found in emmer than in bread wheat. Other secondary ingredients, such as lutein, are at a similarly high level as in spelt.

Environmental protection made easy

Everything emmer or what? So far, unfortunately, no, but we can assume that emmer will slowly but steadily conquer more and more shelf space. It has already been accepted by enthusiasts, but its unique features in the field and in the product will contribute to more and more people wanting emmer – be it in tasty fresh bread and rolls, crunchy muesli or pasta.

Where else can consumers do something so simple and tasty to protect the environment – by consuming emmer, which increases biodiversity and helps farmers to develop alternative crops for more extensive farming.

Source: Dr. Friedrich Longin, State Seed Breeding Institute of the University of Hohenheim

Emmer compact

Nutritional physiology

Emmer contains valuable proteins and minerals. It is an extremely high-quality food.

It is particularly characterised by the considerable amounts of valuable minerals it contains, such as magnesium, iron, zinc and vitamins B1 and B6. The human body cannot produce these itself and must be obtained from food. Emmer also contains important proteins and lots of fibre.

100 g of wholemeal emmer contains:

Protein	12 g
Dietary fibre	5,8 g
Magnesium	98,3 mg (26%*)
Iron	2,6 mg (19%*)
Zinc	3,3 mg (33%*)
Thiamine	0,22 mg (20%*)

*% of the reference quantity

Rapunzel Emmer-Pasta

Emmer wheat Penne semola

Emmer wheat Penne wholemeal

Emmer wheat Spaghetti semola

Emmer wheat Spaghetti wholemeal

Emmer wheat Spirelli semola

Emmer wheat Spirelli wholemeal

Recipes with Emmer-Pasta

Spirelli with yellow cherry tomatoes, zucchini and fresh parsley

Creamy Sun Dried Tomato Emmer Pasta

Pasta with hemp pesto

Veagn lentil sauce

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FAQ – Frequently asked questions

FAQ about Emmer-Pasta

What is gluten?

Gluten, also known as gluten protein, is a group of certain proteins found in cereal grains such as wheat, rye, barley, and oats. The gluten content is of decisive importance for the baking properties of a flour. Gluten protein binds up to three times its weight in water when it becomes moist. In the process, it develops rubber-like, elastic properties. Like a skeleton, the gluten threads run through the bread dough and ensure that a fine-pored, loose dough forms. The quantitatively and qualitatively highest gluten is provided by wheat, to which it also owes its excellent baking properties. Some people are allergic to this protein due to a metabolic disorder. With sprue or coeliac disease, the medical names for this intolerance, a lifelong gluten intolerance remains. Coeliac disease and sprue are chronic diseases of the small intestine that manifest in childhood or do not appear until adulthood. Since the organism has an intolerance to the gluten protein, those affected must eat a gluten-free diet. The following grains are gluten-free in their unprocessed state: Rice, maize, millet, buckwheat, amaranth and quinoa.

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What are the black dots on Rapunzel pasta?

All Rapunzel pasta still contains parts of the bran. This is quite natural for wholemeal pasta, but semola pasta is also made from so-called ground durum wheat semolina (types between 812 and 1050). These bran particles, which consist to a considerable extent of dietary fibre, darken more than the rest of the ingredients when the pasta dries and become visible as small, dark dots in the pasta. For you as a customer, this is an indication that even in semola quality there is still a proportion of bran that represents neither contamination nor mould.

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Are the edge layers and the seedling removed when making wholemeal pasta?

For Rapunzel wholemeal pasta, the grain is ground to semolina, to a grain size of approx. 200-500 μm. During the production of the wholemeal semolina in Italy, the outermost part of the fruit skin is removed. Wholemeal semolina contains approx. 90% of the grain, i.e., most of the husk and 100% of the germ. Rapunzel wholemeal pasta corresponds to an average flour type of 1600. This process is typical for an Italian durum wheat pasta without egg. The outermost part of the hull is removed to ensure optimal consistency and cohesion of the pasta. This also has a positive effect on the taste.

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What is the degree of grinding of Rapunzel Semola Pasta?

The light Italian pasta is made from ground durum wheat semolina. For this purpose, the bran is sieved off and thus contains only 50% of the germ. Classic pasta semola contains approx. 65% of the whole grain, which corresponds to an ash content (= flour type) of approx. 850 on average. The so-called “flour type” is usually only a common indication for flour, but this number provides information about the ash content of the milled grain product and suggests the amount of husk in it.

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Which cereals belong to the so-called original cereals?

The original cereals include einkorn, emmer, spelt and kamut.

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What is emmer pasta and how does it differ from durum wheat pasta?

Emmer, also popularly known as summer spelt, is one of the original cereals. The Italian emmer for Rapunzel pasta is sown in November and harvested in July. It is protected from harmful environmental influences and fungal attack by its hard husk. Emmer pasta has a slightly darker, more yellowish colour. It tastes slightly nutty and is more aromatic than the classic durum wheat pasta. In terms of cooking properties, both varieties are comparable.

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What are the advantages of emmer over spelt?

The close relationship of emmer to durum wheat makes it the perfect grain for original Italian pasta. Its firmer grain compared to spelt gives the pasta the perfect al-dente bite.

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Why is emmer also known as “summer spelt”?

Summer spelt is the common name for emmer. Unfortunately, nobody can say for sure today why it was given this name in the vernacular. However, it shows the long history of cultivation of the original cereal in Germany

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How does emmer pasta differ from durum wheat pasta?

Emmer pasta has a slightly darker, more yellowish color. It tastes slightly nutty and more aromatic than classic durum wheat pasta. In terms of cooking properties, the two varieties are comparable.

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What is the advantage of the spelt grain emmer?

Emmer grain is protected in a hard husk. This was a great advantage in the primitive storage conditions of early agriculture. Even today, the husk has an important benefit - it protects the grain from harmful environmental influences and fungal attack.

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Is emmer a winter or summer cereal?

Emmer is available as both a summer and a winter grain. The Italian emmer for Rapunzel pasta is sown in November and harvested in July. It is therefore a winter grain.

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