On the slopes of Mount Arci in western Sardinia, sits Morgongiori, a village of 800 inhabitants known for its handcrafted rugs and tapestries. Yet Morgongiori also guards a secret that has been passed down through the generations: the recipe and technique for lorighittas, a hand-made braided pasta that's emblematic of Sardinia’s culinary tradition.
Lorighittas, tradition and folklore
The first mention of lorighittas dates back to a 16th-century report on regional economic activity compiled for the King of Spain, who, at the time, controlled most of southern Italy, including Sardinia, Naples and Sicily. This document mentioned a special Sardinian pasta, braided and ring-shaped. The tradition of lorighittas has long since been tied to the celebration of All Saints’ Day, on November 1. In fact, it was customary for the women of the village to gather in kitchens, in the days leading up to the holiday, and spend time together, kneading semolina flour and water and braiding the dough on wooden tables. The lorighittas were then placed on wicker baskets, decoratively arranged like lace doilies, and left to dry. It was during this waiting period that they set about to make the sauce, a tomato sauce enriched with free-range cockerel, at times substituted with pork or wild boar in more well-to-do families.
At that time, and still today, the pasta was made exclusively by hand and required dexterity, precision and a lot of time. It takes at least 30 minutes just to prepare the dough, a process that includes gradually adding salted water to make the lorighittas softer. The fact that this artisanal pasta has traditionally been made by the young women of the village, who then passed on the recipe to the generations that followed, is probably due to Sardinian pastoral culture, in which it was the women’s duty to take care of preparing food while the men were busy working outside. As for the origin of the name, lorigas, there are many theories and much folklore. For example, one story recounts how the pasta got its name because it looks like the growths on then neck of a goat or pig, or from the literary translation of “iron rings” because its shape is similar to the braided hoop earrings that the women wore or the iron rings that at one time were attached to the walls of local houses for tying the horses and oxen when the men returned from the fields.
While the women in Morgongiori carry on the tradition in their homes, pasta production also continues in several workshops, always using artisanal, hand-made techniques. Moreover, in 2006, thanks to a program financed by the EU, the town council launched a project, Asso Lori, which works to develop, promote and protect this globally unique pasta, thereby supporting local manufacturers. Although the pasta is still not very well known outside Sardinia, consumer demand is on the rise. Today, lorighittas are featured in many Sardinian restaurants with chefs offering original recipes made with products from the land and the sea. In addition, the city of Morgongiori continues to dedicate the first Sunday in August to lorighittas in a city festival called Sagra delle Lorighittas, to display its precious culinary heritage.
Photos by: Lorighittas pasta sardegna_fugzu_Flikr