A wheat ear drawn with the fingers: the closure of culurgiones is a gesture Ogliastra's women have passed down for generations. Inside, potato, pecorino and mint; outside, one of Italy's few PGI-protected pastas.
The identity dish
Every Ogliastra village defends its own variant: more mint in Triei, more garlic towards the heels, a thinner or thicker sheet. What never changes is the ritual: made at home, for feast days, and giving them is a codified gesture of affection — once offered to neighbours as a blessing.
The wheat ear
The "spighitta" closure is not decoration: it seals the filling and tells of a wheat civilisation. Learning it takes years; watching skilled hands do it is hypnotic. Many farms and local cooks run workshops — a souvenir worth more than any object.
Where to eat them
In the restaurants of Triei, Baunei, Urzulei and Tortolì — but the real advice is to find them handmade that day. At I Mandorli we can point you to the best hands around, and arrange a lesson (wheat-ear included) on request.