What I am about to say is no solution, but: I can't quite understand why don't people don't begin by trying and make a basic YouTube video about this subject.
Don't want the tradition to fade? Spread it as much as possible.
Don't want the tradition to fade? Spread it as much as possible.
Here's Jamie Oliver attempting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHGZLjJ1CAk (this might be the video linked in the article, that one failed for me). It doesn't seem very easy.
It appears to be a normal pasta recipe. We know plain water is used. We don't know how heavily salted the salt water is.
Perhaps because I can't speak Italian, but I can't find a recipe. If they really want to preserve it they should probably start with that in multiple languages. Then at least we can experiment with the technique without having to make too many guesses.
I'm pretty sure we'd figure out the required elasticity fairly quickly.
> “There are only three ingredients: semolina wheat, water and salt,” Abraini said, vigorously kneading the dough back and forth. “But since everything is done by hand, the most important ingredient is elbow grease.”
> Abraini patiently explained how you work the pasta thoroughly until it reaches a consistency reminiscent of modelling clay, then divide the dough into smaller sections and continue working it into a rolled-cylindrical shape. Then comes the hardest part, a process she calls, “understanding the dough with your hands.” When she feels that it needs to be more elastic, she dips her fingers into a bowl of salt water. When it needs more moisture, she dips them into a separate bowl of regular water. “It can take years to understand,” she beamed. “It’s like a game with your hands. But once you achieve it, then the magic happens.”
> When the semolina reached just the right consistency, Abraini picked up the cylindrical strand to stretch and fold the dough, doubling it as she pressed the heads of the su filindeu into her palms. She repeated this sequence in a fluid motion eight times. With each sweeping pull, the dough became thinner and thinner. After eight sequences, she was left with 256 even strands about half as wide as angel-hair pasta. She then carefully laid the strands on a circular base, one on top of another, to form a cross, trimming any excess from the ends with her fingers before repeating the process over and over.
> When she’d formed three layers, she took the base outside to dry in the Sardinian sun. After several hours, the layers hardened into delicate sheets of white razor-thin threads resembling stitched lace. Abraini then broke the circular sheets into crude strips and packed them into boxes, ready for the San Francesco feast’s prior to place them in boiling sheep’s broth with grated pecorino and offer it as a thick soup to the pilgrims.
Even if we assume a standard pasta recipe, what's in the sheep broth!?