Il caturro, or cuturro, is linked to the history of the "cavemen" of Scicli and its surroundings, in the archaeological area of Chiafura, in the province of Ragusa. The main ingredient is home-ground wheat, between two stones of lava origin, and cooked exactly like polenta. Born as a poor preparation, of true survival, with time and better living conditions other ingredients were added to the frugal ancient dish: olive oil, legumes, tomato sauce, vegetables or ricotta. This dish is actually unknown even in the places where it was born, only recently some restaurants and agritourisms in the area have been serving it to their customers as a rarity.
In the past, grinding wheat at home for the caturro was illegal, as one escaped the obligation to pay the ground tax imposed in the Kingdom of Italy at the end of the 800th century.
The ground tax was an indirect tax and the calculation methodology was based on the amount of grain actually ground. A mechanical counter was applied inside each mill which counted the revolutions made by the grinding wheel. The tax was therefore due in proportion to the number of these rounds, which, according to the legislators, had to correspond to the quantity of ground cereal. Subsequently, the amount was progressively reduced until the tax was definitively abolished in 1884. At the time of its repeal, the tax on grist guaranteed a revenue of 80 million lire a year, a considerable figure. So much so that the state budget suffered a severe setback following the abolition of the tax.
The term cuturro in dialect indicates a scruffy and coarse person. This is because this dish looks like an unrefined polenta in which the pieces of wheat are not perfectly chopped. But the caturro was much more than a simple form of livelihood.
To save the memory of the caturro the doctor and sculptor Gaetano Mormina, which has been the guardian of this recipe for decades. Originally from Scicli, he was well known in the city not only for his work as a doctor but above all for his love for stone, which led him to build the Stone Museum, in the Trippatore district in Sampieri, a destination for school visits and numerous events. A project that has given new life to the caves of Chiafura.
The museum has a threshing floor, an Albanian-made stone oven, a cave in which to devote oneself to the work of bread, recovered from the rock, a millstone for refining wheat and another for the preparation of caturro. Mormina continued to grind grain with the stones he carved, passing on this tradition to his family.
The durum wheat, first crushed and ground, was slowly poured into boiling salted water. For at least an hour it was stirred slowly with a wooden spoon, so as to avoid the formation of lumps. When cooked, it was poured into dishes and seasoned as desired with different ingredients. It could be eaten cold or fried in a pan. Here is the recipe.
The recipe of the homemade Caturro
Ingredients
3 kg of durum wheat
5 liters of boiling water
Salt to taste
Method
We start by coarsely chopping the grain. For the operation you can use an electric coffee grinder. Once ready, pour it a little at a time into the boiling water (as is also customary for polenta), stirring slowly with a wooden spoon. Continue until cooked, when the grain has absorbed all the water, assuming the consistency and appearance of a risotto. At this point the cuturro is ready and can be seasoned as desired. Usually tomato sauce and various cooked vegetables are used, such as chard, endive, lettuce and potatoes. still The most common condiment, however, is the one based on wild fennel and raw olive oil. Otherwise you can use a sauce based on capers and anchovies, or raw oil, grated cheese and chilli or black pepper
