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Commercially produced dry?pasta, or pasta secca, is made almost exclusively from durum?semolina. Certain home made fresh pastas (pasta fresca), such as?orecchiette, cavatelli, and malloreddus, also use durum wheat, while others, such as?tagliatelle, use a combination of soft and hard wheats.
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Husked but unground, or coarsely ground, it is used to produce the?semolina?in the?couscous?of North Africa and the?Levant. It is also used for?Levantine?dishes such astabbula,?kishk,?kibba,?bitfun?and the?bulghur?for?pilafs. In?North African cuisine?and?Levantine cuisine, it forms the basis of many?soups, gruels, stuffings,?puddings?andpastries.?When ground as fine as?flour, it is used for making?bread. In the Middle East, it is used for?flat round breads, and in Europe and elsewhere, it can be used forpizza,?torte, etc. It is not, however, good for?cakes, which are made from soft wheat to ensure softness.
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Most of the durum grown today is amber durum, the grains of which are amber-colored and larger than those of other types of wheat. Durum has a yellow?endosperm, which gives pasta its color. When durum is?milled, the endosperm is ground into a granular product called?semolina. Semolina made from durum is used for premiumpastas?and?breads. There is also a red durum, used mostly for?livestock feed.
