00:00 This is the rarest pasta in the world.
00:04 The key to making sufilindeu, or threads of God,
00:09 is stretching and folding dough over and over and over again
00:14 until it turns into 256 even strands.
00:20 For a century, the techniques were practiced
00:22 by a single family in the Sardinian city of Nuoto,
00:26 who made the dish solely for religious celebration.
00:29 Now, Luca Floris is one of only seven locals making it here.
00:34 (speaking in foreign language)
00:38 This secrecy nearly led to the pasta's disappearance,
00:42 but now it's finding new producers and customers abroad.
00:46 This new audience could save the rare pasta from extinction.
00:51 But will this expansion also strip away
00:53 the cultural and religious significance of the dish?
00:57 We went to Italy to see how the tradition
00:59 of making threads of God is still standing.
01:02 Although making sufilindeu is complex,
01:10 the ingredients are simple.
01:12 Semolina flour, water, and salt.
01:15 Luca mixes them together to form a dough.
01:19 (speaking in foreign language)
01:23 (gentle music)
01:26 Getting the dough completely smooth
01:41 can take up to 20 minutes.
01:43 (speaking in foreign language)
01:48 (gentle music)
01:50 He alternates between adding drops of salt brine
01:57 and fresh water as he needs.
02:00 (speaking in foreign language)
02:05 (gentle music)
02:07 Stretching is the key to sufilindeu's thin strands.
02:22 In one swift motion, Luca folds the dough in half
02:25 to make two pieces, then four, then eight.
02:32 He continues until he forms 256
02:35 perfectly even threads of pasta.
02:37 Each one is as thin as a strand of hair.
02:41 (speaking in foreign language)
02:47 Luca has to be careful not to break any of the strands
02:59 as he places them on a traditional wicker base
03:01 called a fundu.
03:03 It's made of asphodel,
03:04 a plant that grows throughout the region.
03:07 (speaking in foreign language)
03:10 Layering is the key to sufilindeu's mesh-like design.
03:23 It's also the trickiest step of the process for Luca.
03:25 The strands cannot be moved once they are on the fundu,
03:30 so he has to be precise.
03:32 He removes any excess dough from the edges
03:35 before working on the next section.
03:37 (speaking in foreign language)
03:58 Luca only has 20 minutes to finish all three layers.
04:02 (speaking in foreign language)
04:06 For the people of Nuoto, sufilindeu is sacred.
04:12 Traditionally, the dish was prepared only twice a year
04:16 during celebrations to honor Saint Francis.
04:19 Pilgrims from Nuoto would travel 20 miles to his shrine.
04:24 Women from a local family would gather
04:26 and prepare bowls of sufilindeu
04:28 for those who completed the trek.
04:29 (speaking in foreign language)
04:34 This hasn't changed since at least the 19th century.
04:42 (speaking in foreign language)
04:47 But generations of secrecy have left
04:52 only a handful of people in Nuoto
04:54 with the knowledge and interest to make the dish.
04:57 In 2021, a sufilindeu maker from the family
05:00 divulged the recipe to other women in the community
05:03 in an effort to keep the dish from disappearing.
05:05 Other Nuoto residents like Luca
05:08 stepped in to keep the tradition alive.
05:11 But for him, finding a teacher was impossible.
05:15 (speaking in foreign language)
05:22 Luca decided to take matters into his own hands.
05:25 (speaking in foreign language)
05:28 Slowly, Luca started getting inquiries
05:30 from chefs in Canada, England, China, Germany, and beyond.
05:35 (speaking in foreign language)
05:51 Over 6,000 miles away, outside of Los Angeles,
05:55 one of Luca's students is bringing a new life
05:58 to sufilindeu.
05:59 Chef Rob Gentile has spent over 20 years
06:03 bringing the flavors of his Italian background
06:06 to fine dining restaurants in Canada and the US.
06:10 - It was always this, like, holy grail of pasta.
06:15 I always wanted to learn how to make it.
06:17 It's just one of those things.
06:19 It's like, before I die,
06:21 I wanna know how to make sufilindeu.
06:23 - For years, Rob struggled to find a teacher.
06:26 But when the masters in Nuoto
06:27 finally began sharing their knowledge,
06:29 he jumped at the opportunity.
06:31 - It started to become like,
06:33 how do we keep this tradition alive?
06:36 How do we encourage the people who are excited about it
06:41 to foster this amazing product?
06:44 And this is where I met Luca.
06:46 - Rob spent hours watching and learning
06:48 how to knead and stretch the dough in Luca's home.
06:51 - I was like, I can do this.
06:53 It's not that difficult.
06:55 Because Luca made it look so easy.
06:58 It was a very memorable moment, my entire life.
07:02 It was like, couldn't even believe this.
07:04 - Now Rob is featuring sufilindeu
07:06 on the menu at his restaurant, Stella West Hollywood.
07:10 - I just felt like it was something special
07:12 that people needed to try.
07:16 And every time I've introduced someone to it,
07:19 it's a magical thing to eat.
07:22 - As sufilindeu expands to restaurants outside of Sardinia,
07:26 awareness of the dish's cultural and religious significance
07:28 could fade over time.
07:31 But Luca and Rob believe that shouldn't stop people
07:33 from sharing how to make it.
07:35 (speaking in foreign language)
07:40 (speaking in foreign language)
07:44 - I think that it can be appreciated as a technique
07:50 in a pasta, and we can do things like sufilindeu with it
07:55 and have fun with it.
07:57 But it can also be celebrated
07:59 as the religious tradition that it is.
08:03 It's an exciting time for sufilindeu
08:05 because it's never really been anywhere else
08:08 outside of Sardinia, and now it is.
08:11 - And though the pasta is finding new homes,
08:16 the tradition is still under threat in its birthplace.
08:20 That's because to make the pasta the authentic way,
08:22 you need a fundu.
08:24 And there are not that many people left making them.
08:27 (speaking in foreign language)
08:34 (speaking in foreign language)
08:38 - Giovanna Porci has been weaving
08:51 since she was a small child.
08:52 (speaking in foreign language)
08:58 (speaking in foreign language)
09:02 - She starts by cutting the asphodel into thin strips.
09:14 This tool is made from cow bone.
09:20 Giovanna uses it to weave the plant into a round base.
09:24 In Sardinia, women have passed down asphodel weaving
09:27 for generations.
09:29 It was a source of income for people like Giovanna's mother.
09:32 (speaking in foreign language)
09:37 - But today, the trade has virtually disappeared
09:53 with only a few weavers remaining.
09:56 (speaking in foreign language)
10:00 - Giovanna says young people haven't shown any interest
10:12 in learning the craft.
10:13 She's tried to teach women in her community,
10:15 but she says it hasn't caught on.
10:17 (speaking in foreign language)
10:21 (speaking in foreign language)
10:25 - Like weaving, the art of making su filindeu in Nuoto
10:38 is anything but widespread.
10:40 (speaking in foreign language)
10:45 - This limited production has also made the pasta
10:50 expensive.
10:52 One kilo can cost 26 to 30 euros,
10:55 around 15 times the average price of pasta in Italy.
10:59 But Luca doesn't believe selling it is the key
11:01 to keeping this tradition alive.
11:04 (speaking in foreign language)
11:18 - Instead, his focus is teaching it to others.
11:21 And he's putting his faith in people like Rob
11:23 to bring the dish worldwide.
11:26 - They're part of culture, they're part of a cuisine.
11:29 It's just something that should be taught,
11:36 it should be carried on, it should move forward.
11:39 (speaking in foreign language)
11:44 (speaking in foreign language)
11:48 - While Luca doesn't know what the future holds,
11:59 he's proud of the work he's doing
12:01 to keep threads of God alive.
12:03 (upbeat music)
12:06 (upbeat music)
12:08 (upbeat music)
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