The World's Rarest Pasta Is Hidden in the Mountains of Sardinia

Su filindeu, Sardinia’s most elusive pasta, is among Italy’s rarest officially recognized pasta shapes. The process converts a single ball of dough into 256 extremely thin strands by repeatedly halving the dough’s width and doubling the number of threads. The strands are laid across a drying rack called a fundo in a triangular pattern that evokes the Holy Trinity. Drying in the sun makes the pasta light and golden. The craft has been difficult to pass to younger generations and was traditionally transmitted through a single line of matriarchs from Nuoro. A small number of makers, including Paola Abraini, preserve the technique through teaching, helping prevent extinction of the tradition.

"The woman pulls and stretches the dough from one loop into more than 200 strands. Paola Abraini is one of only a handful of people who still know how to make su filindeu. To lose this tradition would be like losing a piece of our identity, she said. The woman lays out the thin strands across a circular frame, which is covered in with strands of noodles. Stretched by hand, a single ball of dough is converted into 256 gossamer strands that are stretched across a drying rack called a fundo in a triangular pattern, to evoke the Holy Trinity."

"It’s a meticulous process that has proven difficult to pass down to younger generations. Every detail of su filindeu matters, including its relationship with its Mediterranean environs. When it is dried in the sun it becomes light and golden, said Mrs. Abraini. The woman flips through a photo album, showing photographs of a younger woman preparing the same steps of dough-stretching. Twenty years ago, Mrs. Abraini was among the last custodians of the vanishing foodway. But her tireless work as a teacher has helped bring it back from the brink of extinction."

"For most of its centuries-long history, su filindeu was a tradition passed down through a single line of matriarchs from Nuoro, a town in the mountainous interior of the island. In fact, Ms. Abraini came to learn the intricate craft from her mother-in-law at 16. Whereas most handmade pasta in Italy is rolled out with a wooden dowel called a mattarello, every pass of su filindeu dough halves the width and doubles the number of strands. Do that eight times and you end up with the requisite 256 threads."

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