Susan sent me an email about Farro. We're looking for local sources to buy it. Any ideas?  Amy

Amy,

Remember you and I talked about this salad I had in Florence, Italy that
contained a grain called "farro". The farro grains reminded me of rice, but
with a bit of a nutty taste and a nice firm texture. It was a very good
salad. You had never heard of farro and we went to the Italian section of
the store but y'all didn't have it.

I have looked all over the place in Cincinnati, including Jungle Jim's and
have been unable to find any of this. I can find it on the web, but it's
not cheap!!!

Below is some information on farro that I got from the web. Here is a link
to the food network for a salad using farro that is very close to what we
had in Florence. I would love to make this but can't find the main
ingredient!!!!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_25692,00.html

Susan

Farro is a type of wheat, also called emmer, that was among the first
plants to be domesticated in the Middle East. It is low yielding and has
been largely replaced over the centuries by other crops, but it remains as
a relict species in mountainous areas of Europe and Asia. Farro grows in
wild and cultivated varieties, and it is still a popular food in some areas
of the world, notably Italy.

Though farro is no longer grown much around the world, Italy is an
exception. Italian farro is popular beyond the country's borders,
especially in European health food and specialty stores. Farro is also
grown today in Albania, Morocco, Spain, Turkey, Switzerland, and the
Carpathian mountains on the border of the Czech and Slovak republics,
though not to the extent that it is grown in Tuscany.

In Italy, farro is often eaten as whole grains in soup. Farro pasta is
available, though not as popular; it is mainly considered a health food. In
Switzerland, farro is used to make bread, as it was in ancient Egypt. Farro
is also sometimes used as animal feed.

According to Garzanti's Italian-English dictionary it's spelt, but Luciano
Migliolli, author of Il Farro e le sue Ricette (Farro and its recipes),
says that though it looks rather like spelt they're not the same. Farro
must be soaked, whereas spelt can be boiled straight off. Also, cooked
farro has a firm chewy texture, whereas spelt softens and becomes mushy.
What this means is that you have to read the package carefully when you
purchase farro (a well-stocked delicatessen or health food store should
have it) to make certain you are getting "Triticum dicoccum" (farro's Latin
name). If you cannot find farro, spelt will work, and you should be able to
use barley or other whole grains as well — the results won't be quite the
same and you will have to adjust the cooking times, but the dishes will be
good.

Hi Susan-
Thanks for sending the information on farro. I think you might be able to find it at Whole Foods. I did a search and several recipes using farro turned up on their site. Here's the info for 2 local  Whole Foods stores:

Cincinnati
Whole Foods Market
2693 Edmondson Rd.
Cincinnati, OH 45209
Phone: 513.531.8015
Fax: 513.531.1354
Mason
Whole Foods Market
5805 Deerfield Blvd.
Mason, OH 45040
Phone: 513.398.9358
Fax: 513.398.4818

Whole Foods Market
2693 Edmondson Rd.
Cincinnati, OH 45209
Phone: 513.531.8015
Fax: 513.531.1354
Mason
Whole Foods Market
5805 Deerfield Blvd.
Mason, OH 45040
Phone: 513.398.9358
Fax: 513.398.4818

I also found farro at IGourmet.com for $5.99 for a 17.8 ounce bag
http://www.igourmet.com/Shoppe/search.aspx?qry=farro

Thanks again!
Amy