Traditionally only eaten on May 1^st and October 4^th when pilgrims gather to celebrate the Festival of Saint Francis, su filindeu is widely regarded as the rarest and most unusual style of pasta on earth. 

It’s an art form perfected by only a handful of people in its 300-year history, and its ties to the province of Nuoro, an unassuming town in central Sardinia, remain more potent than ever.

The pasta is so rare that you only need to travel a few miles from its spiritual home and you’ll likely be greeted by a blank stare if you mention “su filindeu” to the locals.

For centuries, making the pasta was very much in the female domain, passed down from mother to daughter and fiercely protected from anyone outside the immediate family. To an extent that is still true, but a lack of interest from the younger generation of girls in the town means that the custodians of the secrets have opened it up to a wider audience to ensure it can continue to live on for another 300 years.