Benedetto Cavalieri

Benedetto Cavalieri is a family pasta maker in Maglie, in the province of Lecce, Apulia. The Cavalieri family had grown durum wheat since the 1800s. After an agricultural crisis, Andrea Cavalieri began trading grain in 1872 and building millstones for durum wheat, and in 1918 his son Benedetto opened the "Molino e Pastificio Benedetto Cavalieri", a mill and pasta factory for pasta made from wheat grown on the hills of Apulia and Basilicata. Even then the pasta was dried not in the street but in dedicated rooms with radiators and fans.

In the 1950s the business passed to his son Andrea and later to the grandson Benedetto, who has run it for over forty years; in 2007 his son Andrea, the fourth generation, joined. Since 2005 the factory has been a teaching site of the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo, and it is listed in Italy's national register of historic enterprises.

According to the company, its production method is called "Metodo Delicato": long kneading of the semolina with cold water at no more than 35 °C, slow pressing, bronze dies and drying with air at no more than 54 °C for 20–40 hours depending on the shape. The durum wheat grows on the hills of Apulia and Basilicata without heavy use of chemical fertilisers.

The range is dry durum wheat pasta in two lines: Pasta di Semola di Grano Duro (40 shapes according to the company, for example spaghettoni and ruote pazze) and the organic wholegrain Pasta di Semola Integrale di Grano Duro Biologico.