The city of Taganrog, a port on the Sea of Azov in Russia, was a colony of the Maritime Republic of Pisa in the 13th century. Six centuries later, legend has it that a sailor named Giuseppe Garibaldi made frequent voyages to Taganrog to load cargoes of durum wheat for the Italian market. While there, Garibaldi met Giambattista Cuneo, a sailor from Liguria, who inducted him into the revolutionary Young Italy movement that launched him in his role as a hero of the Risorgimento.

Taganrog was the preferred durum wheat of the pasta makers of Liguria and Naples, who used it to improve blends of local grains at the time.

For four years we sowed, harvested and replanted Taganrog in our fields in the Marche. Finally, in the fifth year, we had enough grain to make our first pasta. Then, in the autumn of 2000, we produced the first quantity of spaghetti from Taganrog alone. After the Senatore Cappelli Line, that became our second line of single-variety pasta.

 

Taganrog is a durum wheat of golden color that stands nearly 170 centimeters tall with long blonde whiskers and large, glossy grains. It’s a variety of excellent quality, robust with short ears that tend to tear away from the stalk rather than grow longer. The pasta, in its dry state, can have a protein value of up to 18 percent from top harvests. During cooking, it retains its golden color during cooking to emerge with mellow flavor and delicate fragrance reminiscent of freshly baked bread. It holds its form perfectly when cooked, maintaining a firm bite and round, harmonious sensations on the palate.