We are learning that every region of Italy has its own shape of pasta. We kept seeing the word Fileja in Vibo Valentia. Uncle Enzo took us to a restaurant and there were only two choices for pasta, and one was this: fileja. of

I was confused by the use of the letter J, because that letter doesn’t exist in the Italian alphabet. I didn’t even know how to pronounce it. Uncle Enzo told me it’s pronounced like a Y. The region has so many influences. Is the J Greek? Arab?

This type of pasta is made by wrapping dough around a thin stick, kind of like a corkscrew, and it’s said that it was made to resemble a plant that grows wild near Vibo Valentia.