spelt ≠ farro (or does it?)

i'm currently chained to my printer (long story), so instead of cooking i'm wandering aimlessly though the interwebs.

i came across a really interesting article in the new york times about the differences between spelt and farro.  like many people i had mistakenly thought they were the same thing.

now i know.



yesterday i posted the above article explaining how spelt and farro were not the same thing.  it turns out that there is a lot more confusion about this whole topic than i was expecting.  a speltie (in the know) forwarded me some information that she had received from a spelt farmer in washington.

it turns out that "farro" is an umbrella term for three types of grain, einkorn (Triticum monoccocum), emmer (Triticum diccocum) and spelt (Triticum spelta). 

further internet searching explains that in italy (where the term farro comes from), that there are three sizes of farro, piccolo (einkorn), medio (emmer), and grande (spelt). 

it seems as if the most common "farro" sold is farro medio (aka emmer), but that confusion and mislabelling abound.

i guess the moral of the story is that spelt = farro.  sometimes.