THE TESTIMONY OF AL IDRISI

“To the west of Termini there is the town of Trabia, an enchanting site, rich in perennial waters and mills, with a beautiful plain and vast farms in which itrìya are manufactured in such quantities as to supply, in addition to the countries of Calabria, those of the territories Muslims and Christians, where substantial loads are sent ”.

1154 d.C., Al-Idrisi 

Arabic text taken from “The book of Roger” (Nuzhat al mushtaq li ikhtiraq al alaq Kitab = the book of those who delight in traveling the world) by the Moroccan geographer Abū ‘Abd Allāh Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn’ Abd Allah ibn Idrīs al-Ṣabti , better known as Al Idrisi, handed over to the Norman king of Sicily.

The Arabs have always been innovators and experimenters and had identified Sicily as the ideal place for the production of pasta, of the “Itriya”.

THE TALE OF TRADITION

Could pasta have been born anywhere else, if not in the place with the most exposure to light in all of Europe, the island where the sun and climate are unique in the world and have favored the cultivation of wheat since ancient times? The many perennial streams that flow between Palermo and Cefalù were then what was needed to move the many mills that were used to grind the grain.

Today, our Donna Itriya artisan pasta factory is located in Casteldaccia, exactly in the district that during the Sicilian 900 was home to the greatest pasta-making vocation. This was the historic home of Duke Enrico Maria Alliata of Villafranca, a nobleman known for being a gastronome and writer, the last lord of the cellars of Casteldaccia.

Here, the scent of Sicilian durum wheat semolina blended with the unmistakable essence of the saltiness of the maritime coast and with the heady scent of must of the historic cellars and from there the products of our territory reached the port of Termini Imerese and took the way to the Americas, for overseas Sicilians

0 Emanuele De Stefano_-Litorale di Casteldaccia (1857)
casteldaccia-la-tradizione

THE VOCATION OF THE TERRITORY

The long tradition of pasta makers testifies how this territory is suited to the transformation of wheat into pasta. The climate, the water, the craftsmanship gained over the years by the population.

The territory of Casteldaccia has always been chosen for quality production.

Donna Itriya takes up the baton, bringing this ancient wisdom back to life, mixing it with the most advanced production technologies. The result is an entrepreneurial vision aimed at the future, but which brings with it the best possible quality of the final product.