'Unpacking' Fregula: Metaphors and Meaning in Critical Pasta Discourse

Have you ever heard of Fregula? It is a kind of Italian pasta. I had no idea what it was until recently, and I have cooked and eaten my way through the whole country (then again, I also did not know what this gesture meant until now, so I guess I am unobservant all around).

Anyway, I had a very exciting first experience with this strange Sardinian pasta. I had no idea what it would taste like or how to prepare it, so I used the old "winging it" technique, and came up with something not quite Italian, but delicious nonetheless.

Fregula cooks up like Israeli cous cous, but it is made out of semolina flour, so it tastes toastier and more like bread crumbs than pasta. Kind of like Berlusconi is a toastier version of Danny DeVito.

And while we are on the topic of new things, have you ever had a ground cherry? I heard someone describe them as "a cross between a strawberry and a tomato", and I had to have one right then and there. It is true, they do taste like very sweet cherry tomatoes, and they come in beautiful little husks.

I'm not sure if ground cherries are even a fruit or a vegetable, but they were fantastic in this fregula salad with swiss chard, walnuts, balsamic, and parmesean.


Delicioso.