Emmer wheat, is an unhybridized grain which belongs to the wheat family, grown for millennia in the Middle East and North Africa. True farro (Triticum dicoccum) is not spelt (Triticum spelta) as is commonly believed: it has two distinctive spikes and a fuller flavor. Today most of Italy's farro is cultivated in Umbria, Latium, and Tuscany; the one from the Garfagnana area of Tuscany is most famous for its pure, nutty taste. Farro is rich in fiber, magnesium, and vitamins A, B, C, and E, and because of its low gluten content, people who are gluten-intolerant can often eat farro without difficulty. Farro flour can be used to make pasta and bread, but since it is so low in gluten it should be combined with wheat flour or eggs; a good combination for making pasta is farro flour and semolina.

Born as a way of savoring the year's new olive oil, fettunta is absolutely Tuscan in its simplicity: a slice of coarse country bread toasted until golden and rubbed with a peeled clove of garlic, then doused with abundant olive oil and sprinkled with salt. Literally, fettunta comes from fetta unta, or "oily slice."

This delectable Tuscan salami is made from finely ground pork flavored with wild fennel seeds (finocchio means 'fennel'), garlic, salt, and pepper; a little finely ground beef can also be mixed in with the pork when making finocchiona. Finocchiona is aged anywhere from seven months to one year before it's marketed, and it has a soft, melting texture; it's best sliced not too thinly and served with saltless Tuscan bread. Finocchiona is rather imposing in size, measuring up to 10" in diameter, and often appears as part of the classic Tuscan antipasto platter along with chicken liver- or spleen-topped crostini, Prosciutto, fett'unta (the Tuscan name for 'bruschetta'), other types of salami, olives, and mushrooms marinated in olive oil.

Focaccia is a preparation made with bread dough that is produced in practically all parts of Italy. The version produced in Liguria is maintained to be the best as it is the softest and most flavorsome. The "ingredients" for a good focaccia are not simply the raw materials (that is, flour, yeast, water and salt), but also the leavening time, the characteristics of the oven, the cooking temperature, and last but not least, the baker's "touch." Focaccia is generally rather low, soft, fragrant, with pronounced dents and an intense aroma. The color of the surface is a light golden brown and should not be straw-colored like underdone bread. Moreover, the surface should have the right coating of olive oil; that is, it should have a uniform veil of oil without being opaque. The top of the focaccia is smooth, while the base is porous.

Liguria is a sort of paradise for focaccia, just as it is for olive oil and basil. Every village boasts at least one baker who produces excellent focaccia, either plain or topped with various ingredients. So, from Genoa you can go along the whole Ligurian coast, discovering the best, most delicious focaccia, as well the wonderful scenery.

This traditional dish of Piedmont is generally considered an antipasto, but can also be served as a main course. The word fonduta is the Italian translation of the French fondue, but the two dishes differ with regards to the type of cheese utilized (Piedmontese fonduta calls for Fontina from Val d'Aosta), the use of eggs (they are used in fonduta but not in fondue), and the question of when to add the milk and cheese (the Fontina is soaked in milk for hours before melting for fonduta). While Fonduta can be used to garnish rice, tagliatelle, or even to fill ravioli, it is most frequently used to dip cubes of toasted bread topped with a shaving of white truffles. Another favored dish is fried polenta coins or slices topped with Fonduta and a generous dose of shaved white truffles.

Fontina is a DOP cheese ("Denominazione di Origine Protetta") which is famous not only because of its specific qualities as a table cheese, but also because it is the main ingredient in the "fonduta valdostana", a fondue dish from the Valle d'Aosta. It is the best-known gastronomic specialty of the Valle d'Aosta and has a particularly well developed taste and aroma. When buying Fotina, above all you should check that the seal "Consorzio Produttori Fontina" appears on the cheese. If the cheese is young, it will have a light brown crust; otherwise the crust will be a darker shade of brown. If the Fontina was produced in the winter, that is, when the cows are fed on hay, the paste is white or faintly straw-colored. If, on the other hand, it was produced in the summer, when the cows are out to pasture and eat fresh grass, the cheese has a definite yellow color. Moreover, you should also consider the fact that the paste turns a darker shade of yellow the longer it is aged.

Take the Fontina from the refrigerator at least half an hour before serving it. It can be cut into thin slices and placed on crusty bread and then put in the oven for the cheese to melt; you can serve it sprinkled with freshly ground black pepper or with slivers of truffle.

A pasteurized cows' milk cheese whose name literally means 'little cheese,' formaggella can be found throughout Italy. It is most commonly used either as a table cheese or as a filling for savory pies in Liguria (it was once the filling of choice for Recco's famous cheese-stuffed focaccia), as well as in Northern cities like Bergamo, Brescia, Como, and Vicenza. Formaggella is known for its delicate, buttery flavor; briefly aged, it has virtually no crust, and is formed in cylindrical or rectangular molds. It is soft and has a crumbly texture, which makes it perfect for cooking and for use in creamy melted cheese dishes like fonduta. On small dairy farms, Formaggella is sometimes made with sheep's milk.

Sogliano al Rubicone lies right in the middle of the production area of a cheese known as "Formaggio di Fossa." The zone includes towns in the province of Forlì-Cesena, one of which is Sogliano, and towns in the provinces of Rimini and Pesaro-Urbino.

The name "Formaggio di Fossa" (literally cheese in a hole) derives from the fact that the forms are matured in underground cavities dug into the tuff rock. These holes are around 10 feet (3 meters) deep, with a circular base of about 6½ feet (2 meters) in diameter and an opening that is about 2½ feet (80 centimeters) wide. This unusual method of aging the cheese dates back to the time of the war between Charles VIII of France and Ferdinand of Naples. One legend goes that the forms of cheese were "buried" in holes dug in the center of the town to protect them from being raided by soldiers. Traditionally, the date on which the cheese forms are taken out of the "fosse" is November 25, the feast day of Saint Catherine.

Produced in forms weighing between 1⅓ pounds and 4 pounds (600 and 1800 grams), "Formaggio di Fossa" is made with sheep's milk, possibly with the addition of full-fat cow's milk (maximum 50%). It gets its deformed look both from the process of fermentation and from the way the cheeses are packed on top of each other in the cavities. This is also the reason why the rind and the pasta are indistinguishable. When cut in half, the inside of the cheese varies in color from white to straw yellow. The smell is distinctive with hints of the forest floor; the taste is delicate initially, but almost immediately becomes intense, rather piquant, and with a slightly bitter aftertaste. You should ensure that the cheese carries the mark of the local producers' association, the "Consorzio di Tutela Il Fossa di Sogliano al Rubicone," which brands each of the forms produced by its members with a special label.

The cheese is used to prepare "passatelli" (homemade noodles) or to add flavor to stuffings. Grated "Formaggio di Fossa" can be used like Parmigiano. On its own, it is excellent when served with honey, boiled chestnuts, walnuts, or with the classic combination, pears.

Not a grain as some people believe, fregola is an ancient form of pasta made from semolina, a staple of the Sardinian kitchen since Ligurian navigators from the Tabarka colony imported it from North Africa. Semolina flour is combined with water until tiny, uneven pellets form; when the pellets are larger, the result is fregolone. The pellets are then dried and served in a number of ways: they can be boiled in seafood soups, most notably with tiny clams; cooked in water, drained, and layered with tomato sauce, grated Pecorino, and herbs in an ovenproof dish, then baked for a few minutes until the Pecorino melts; or boiled and sauced with diced pancetta, tomatoes, and parsley. Less traditional recipes include a salad of fregola, in which the fregola is boiled, drained, and tossed with a light tomato sauce, then served cold; and seafood and fregola salads.

Made with Montasio, the famed cow's milk cheese, frico is a dish that has sustained generations of shepherds and woodsmen. Today it is a traditional antipasto in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and every valley in Carnia has its own version of it. The basic recipe for frico is nothing more than slices of aged Montasio fried in hot butter, oil, or lard until crisp and golden on both sides. Some versions have the cheese fry slowly over a bed of caramelized onions. Frico can also be served with fried eggs. The name frico comes from the Latin frigere, for frying.

Also called freselle or frisedde, these are large round breads with a hole in the center typical of Apulia. After the first baking, they are sliced in half horizontally and baked a second time until dry and crispy; before eating, they are soaked in or sprayed with water until they become soft again. Friselle are a wonderful accompaniment to salads and can be eaten with any meal; they are often served drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil and topped with tomatoes and oregano or basil. Because they are dry, friselle can be stored for long periods of time.

Technically, a frittata is a dish made from eggs that are lightly beaten with salt and pepper, sometimes embellished with herbs, vegetables, or cheese, and fried in a small amount of fat in a pan. The basic difference between a frittata and an omelet is that the former is cooked on both sides while the latter is cooked only on one side and then folded over itself (stuffed or not) into an envelope shape. Delicious hot as a main course or at room temperature as an antipasto, frittatas are made in every region of Italy with locally available ingredients; in Umbria, a delicious version is studded with black truffles. An intrinsic element of Italian cuisine, the frittata is also food for many colloquial sayings in Italian, like "you can't make a frittata without breaking the eggs," meaning "good things don't come easy."

Originally from Southern Italy, this pasta is corkscrew-shaped. Its name is derived from a diminutive of the word fuso, meaning 'twisted,' because of its spiral shape. Commercial forms of fusilli are made with semolina flour and water; homemade fusilli tend to be made with flour and egg instead, and are twisted around a metal iron to give them their characteristic shape. There are fusilli on the market with a hole in the middle, but these are called "fusilli bucati" (from buco, meaning 'hole'). Fusilli are excellent with tomato- and meat-based sauces, or with chunky vegetable sauces.

We all love fusilli for its knack for holding on to sauces thanks to its gentle spiral shape; most industrially produced fusilli is dry and is made from a simple combination of semolina flour and water. In the regions of Apulia, Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily, and Sardinia, however, the dough for "fusilli al ferro" is made with flour (with or without egg), rolled into a log, and cut into chubby squares which are then wrapped around a thin iron rod (ferro means 'rod' in Italian) and rolled out until they stretch into long noodles with a hole in the middle. Fusilli al Ferro are best paired with savory tomato or meat sauces.