Tumminia and The Doomsday Vault

Tumminia with kale, leeks, garlic

It’s an obvious understatement to say that 2018 was a doozy, given its extreme weather events and its tectonic politics. The continual reports of natural and humanitarian disasters have been horrific. We have no idea what’s in store for the new year ahead of us but we can take comfort knowing that the Svalbard Global Seed Vault remains intact, at least for now. 

Svalbard Global Seed Vault Entrance (Time.com photo)

The melting Arctic permafrost flooded the ten-year-old storage bank in 2017, prompting the government of Norway to launch a multi-million-dollar upgrade to the facility that houses the future of the world’s food security within its walls. Bloomberg.com reported that the U.S., Germany, and Norway are the largest donors to the seed bank, with one participant in the 2018 tenth anniversary conference noting that there are no signs the U.S. will abandon the project, saying, “perhaps the new administration just hadn’t noticed it yet.” Fingers crossed for our Tweeter-in-Chief to remain unaware lest he pull us out of this agreement, too. 

The Dutch have a historically pragmatic attitude about the very real limits of available resources, natural and otherwise, and the importance of preservation. They have a longstanding reputation for ingenious solutions to problems. Experts have travelled to the United States from Holland to assist with infrastructure issues in the aftermath of hurricanes and flooding several times in recent years. This practical, (stereotypical) “thrifty” attitude applies to food sources as well, including progressive agricultural strategies employed by growers to maximize crop production in a country that’s about half the size of the state of Maine. Impressive. 

Amsterdam EV Parking/Charging Stations 

This culture of conservation in the Netherlands affects all aspects of daily living when every square inch of space is important. (That’s 645.16 square millimeters for those who prefer the metric system.) Michel brings his pragmatic Dutch approach to nearly every decision he makes, including installation of the solar panels that power our house and driving a fully electric car for short trips around town. It’s no surprise that the Dutch government has created a plan to make all cars emission-free by 2030. 

Clean air and water are essential worldwide (duh) but finding safe food options here in the U.S. is becoming increasingly challenging. Here’s an example straight from the  fishmonger’s mouth: The salmon labeled “wild-caught” sold at the Whole Foods we frequent is actually caught in the wild—but—it’s flown to China for processing and then flown to the U.S. for consumption. That amount of mileage necessitates freezing the fish at least once, so it’s not as fresh as we are led to believe. (Also, never-ever-ever eat tilapia. Despite its quasi-exotic name, tilapia is one of many kinds of farmed fish raised on an unthinkably nasty diet, which means you’re ultimately ingesting whatever the tilapia eat. Ugh.) 

We’re lucky to have access to fresh foods at farmers’ markets and locally-owned groceries. It’s also a bonus to have industrious friends who share their summer garden bounties. Heirloom “Safe Seed Pledge” startups are plentiful and the farm-to-fork designation has become a point of pride among chefs and restaurateurs. Awareness is increasing and that’s a good thing. I guess those of us who don’t grow our own veggies or tend our own fancy urban chickens must now acknowledge that our mothers were right to say, “Don’t put that in your mouth! You don’t know where it’s been.” 

Our collective need for sustainable, unadulterated food resources is critical, prompting researchers and agri-nerds (yes, that’s a term) to look for “ancient grains” that are hardy and tolerant of environmental variables. Names like quinoa and farro are familiar by now but you may not know about tumminia—yet. It’s an indigenous variety of wheat grown on the island of Sicily. 

Michel found this odd-looking pasta via the Gustiamo website (gustiamo.com), which is a good place to poke around if you’re looking for special Italian ingredients. Disclaimer: Subscribing to the Gustiamo email newsletter can lead to unintended online purchases and acute pasta cravings. 

Tumminia pasta has a long, corkscrew shape called busiate. Its slightly nutty taste and hearty texture make these noodles a satisfying main dish for whatever ingredients you choose to add. Michel’s easy recipe below is vegan but he has since made other iterations using mushrooms, pancetta, etc. Grated parmesan makes a delicious topping, too. 

Improvise. Add whatever you like to these accommodating pasta curls. It’ll be delicious. 

You will need:

1 pkg. of Tumminia pasta

6-8 stems of fresh kale, leaves removed and chopped

½ an onion, chopped

2 leeks, thinly sliced (tops removed)

3-4 cloves garlic, chopped

olive oil

thyme

oregano

white pepper

salt (sea salt)

Boil water for pasta in a large pot. Add a little salt. Tumminia should reach al dente status in about ten minutes. 

While you're waiting for the water to boil:

Heat a little olive oil in a large skillet.

Add chopped garlic and onion.

Sauté 2-3 minutes, then add leeks.

Cook together until leeks begin to soften, then add chopped kale.

Add salt, pepper, oregano, and thyme to taste. 

Drain the pasta (don't rinse it!) and add it to kale mixture, stirring gently to coat the  noodles. 

Mangia, mangia!