Emmer / Farro Flour

What it is

Flour from emmer (Triticum dicoccum), an ancient tetraploid wheat and the direct ancestor of durum. In Italy this is the classic farro.

How it's made

Like spelt, emmer is a hulled wheat requiring de-hulling before milling. Often sold as cracked or pearled grain (farro) as much as flour.

Flavor profile

Deeply nutty, earthy, robust — arguably the most flavorful of the ancient wheats.

Culinary uses

Rustic breads, pasta, and as whole grain in soups and salads (farro dishes). Moderate, fragile gluten — good for flavor-forward flatbreads and blended doughs more than airy loaves.

Regional variations & the farro naming tangle — In Italian, "farro" is ambiguous: farro piccolo = einkorn, farro medio = emmer, farro grande = spelt. Emmer (farro medio) is the one most often meant by "farro." A recipe calling for "farro" may intend any of the three, with different cooking times and textures.

Cultural & historical context

Emmer was a founding crop of Neolithic agriculture in the Fertile Crescent and a staple of ancient Egypt and Rome (Roman puls, a farro porridge, predates bread as a daily food). Eating farro today is, in a real sense, eating the diet of the early agricultural world.

Reference notes

Tags: `wheat`, `ancient-grain`, `contains-gluten`, `hulled-wheat`. Related ingredients: [Einkorn Flour], [Spelt Flour], [Durum Flour]. Related cuisines: Italian, ancient Mediterranean. Suggested links: → The "farro" naming confusion, → Spelt Flour, → Durum Flour.