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July/August 2023 XI MAGAZINE Pastificio Agricolo Mancini Sunflowers, wheat fields, alfalfa: these are the colours of the Marche hills. We are in Monte San Pietrangeli, in the San Firmano area, not far from Porto San Giorgio and the provincial capital. Here the Mancini family produces Italian pasta, an undisputed excellence in terms of quality, richness in nutrients and respect for the principles of social and environmental sustainability of the supply chain. And it could not be otherwise for a farm that produces pasta surrounded by hectares of wheat fields. In an area suited to cereal cultivation, thanks to the nature of the soil and regular rainfall, Mariano and Giuseppe Mancini, father and son, have been growing durum wheat since 1938. But it is their grandson Massimo, an agronomist, who oversaw the transition to pasta production in 2010. The pastificio is an ethical and aesthetic industrial project. Wood, glass and cement are integrated into the landscape without dominating it, going along with architect Paoletti’s idea of creating a production unit that fits in with the peace of the Marche hills. Thus the factory sits in the rural landscape that anticipates the Sibillini Mountains, welcomed into mother earth like a baby in her womb. Warm areas, humid areas, cool production areas alternate to favour the performance of the processing environments according to a natural alternation of microclimates. The focus on sustainability is very high. Aesthetics finds its purpose when it becomes the ethics of production. THE CULTIVATED LAND IS A PRECIOUS HERITAGE. The fruits of the future depend on the land of the present. Conscious consumption and respect for natural resources are the keys to a fair and sustainable food system. Origin, seasonality (each pasta is a child of the agricultural year) and sustainability are identity values of the pasta producer that makes good agricultural practices behavioural rules for the eco-friendly and sustainable management of its activities. The supply chain certified with Trusty’s Blockchain, a platform for traceability of agri- food products, allows Mancini pasta to have a digital identity accessible to all consumers through a QR code on each package. With a simple scan, we can verify the transparency of the supply chain, we know the processing phases of the product, from the sowing of the wheat to the packaging, opening a direct dialogue with Mancini. __________________________________ Pasta needs time to be born perfect __________________________________ GRAINS OF SUSTAINABILITY The Pastificio selects durum wheat varieties that are best suited to the Mancini land and production process. Each cultivated wheat variety has its own character in terms of colour, gluten content, protein and yield. And Mancini are well acquainted with the strengths and weaknesses of the Maestà, Levante and Nazareno varieties, characterised in each case by a vitreous grain, soft and elastic gluten, a richness in protein and an intense yellow index, to create a semolina mix with perfect proportions. Therefore, there is a wide strip of dark Maestà in south-facing soils; the light- coloured Levante in north-facing soils; the vigour of Nazareno in more hilly terrains. The agronomist knows where the different grains are best adapted, and which are the friendly, improving and renewing species capable of constituting fertile soil. FROM FIELD TO PASTA It goes from field to pasta in ten steps: seed selection, field management according to good agricultural practices, threshing when perfectly ripe, cold grain storage, traditional milling, circular bronze milling, slow drying, and packaging with recyclable materials. Pasta is a simple product. All you need is semolina and quality water in the dough and the Mancini pastificio water flows from the Sibillini mountains naturally rich in mineral salts and trace elements and low in sodium, uncontaminated. Mancini’s dies are bronze, giving roughness to the pasta that holds the sauce, and circular, as pasta makers used to give homogeneity to the extruded shapes. But it is the right porosity that allows Mancini’s rough pasta to cook right to the heart of the shape and absorb sauces well. SLOW DRYING Drying is slow and at low temperature. Each format follows a recipe because long or short, smooth or ribbed, whole-wheat or organic dries differently. And the recipe book in the hands of the master pasta maker can only be rich because there are so many shapes that the Mancini give the grain to arrive on the table: spaghettoni, spaghetti and spaghettini, which sounds like a play on words; bucatini, capellini, fusilli, curves, calamarate, macaroni that it takes a stylist to design them. Maniche, paccheri and penne, half or whole because long or short still counts; Rigatoni, tubetti, tuffoli and sedani because if the shape varies the function varies, which the Mancini summarise to avoid confusion in the Linea Classica, Integrale, dei Grani Turanici and Nonno Mariano. And the final choice remains with us consumers: to prefer a classic because habit reassures us, or to be curious and experiment with a type rich in fibre and mineral salts that preserves all the components of the grain. Or maybe the fascination for the ancient, digestible Turan grains, or for the new Nonno Mariano wheat variety, because family tales touch our hearts. A PLATE OF PASTA CAN MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE If we are sensible consumers a plate of ‘le curve’ is the solution that makes us feel good because by eating this pasta we promote a circular economy designed to build a better future for the planet and our community. The idea comes from chef Massimo Bottura: reclaiming the curves of long pasta that rest 35 mm on drying rods to celebrate the untapped potential of this waste product. To see a new pasta type where others see only waste is not for everyone. This is what true beauty is: creating value out of what seems to have none. And the donation of 1 Euro per pack of Le Curve to the non-profit organisation Food for Soul is a further added value to the project to fight food waste by the Modenese chef and his wife Lara Gilmore.
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