History of Pasta

Nothing says Italy like its food, and nothing says Italian food like pasta. Wherever
Italians have immigrated they have brought their pasta and so today it is basically an
international staple. Unlike other ubiquitous Italian foods like Pizza and tomato
sauce, hich have a fairly recent history pasta may indeed have a much older
pedigree going back hundreds if not thousands of years. !o begin to unravel the long
an often comple" orld of pasta e have to look at its origins and some of the myths
surrounding this no orldide food.
#any schoolchildren ere taught that the $enetian merchant #arco Polo brought
back pasta from his %ourneys in &hina. 'nother version states that Polo discovery
as actually a rediscovery of a foodstuff that as once popular in Italy in (truscan
and )oman times. Well #arco Polo might have done amazing things on his %ourney
but bringing pasta to Italy as not one of them, it as already there in Polo*s time.
!here is some evidence of an (trusco+)oman noodle made from the same durum
heat as modern pasta called ,lagane, -origin of the modern ord for lasagna..
/oever this food, first mentioned in the 0st century '1 as not boiled like pasta, it
as cooked in an oven. !herefore ancient lagane had some similarities, but cannot
be considered pasta. !he ne"t culinary leap in the history of pasta ould take place a
fe centuries later.
What we now know as "pasta" originated in Italy. While many different cultures ate some
sort of noodle-like food, composed mostly of grain, the key characteristics of pasta are
durum wheat semolina, with a high gluten content, made with a technique that allows the
resultant dough to be highly malleable. Thus, the many different shapes (i.e., iti,
spaghetti, ra!ioli" that characterie "pasta." #outh of $urope, in %rab &orth %frica, a food
similar to pasta has been eaten for centuries' cous-cous. (owe!er, it lacks the
distinguishing malleable nature of what we call pasta, cous-cous being more akin to
droplets of dough. In )hina, noodles made of millet or rice ha!e been eaten for centuries,
but they lack, of course, the durum wheat semolina paste that denotes pasta. (istorians
ha!e noted se!eral le*ical milestones rele!ant to pasta, none which change these basic
characteristics.
+or e*ample, the works of the ,nd century %- .reek physician .alen mention itrion,
homogeneous compounds made up of flour and water.
/01
The 2erusalem Talmud records
that itrium, a kind of boiled dough,
/01
was common in 3alestine from the 4rd to 5th
centuries %-,
/61
% dictionary compiled by the 7th century #yrian physician and
le*icographer Isho bar %li
/81
defines itriyya, the %rabic cognate, as string-like shapes
made of semolina and dried before cooking. The geographical te*t of 9uhammad al-
Idrisi, compiled for the &orman :ing of #icily ;oger II in <<5= mentions itriyya
manufactured and e*ported from &orman #icily'
West of Termini there is a delightful settlement called Trabia.
/71
Its e!er-flowing streams propel a
number of mills. (ere there are huge buildings in the countryside where they make !ast quantities
of itriyya which is e*ported e!erywhere' to )alabria, to 9uslim and )hristian countries. >ery
many shiploads are sent.
/<?1
Itriyya gi!es rise to trie in Italian, signifying long strips such as tagliatelli@ne form of
itriyya with a long history is laganum (plural lagana", which in Aatin refers to a thin
sheet of dough,
/<<1
and gi!es rise to Italian "lasagna".
% lasagne dish
The )hinese were eating noodles made of millet as long ago as ,??? B). This was
confirmed by the disco!ery of a well-preser!ed bowl of millet noodles o!er =??? years
old.
/<,1
(owe!er, durum wheat was not known in )hina until later times. The familiar
legend of 9arco 3olo importing pasta from )hina
/<41
originated with the Macaroni
Journal, published by an association of food industries with the goal of promoting the use
of pasta in the Cnited #tates.
/<=1
9arco 3olo describes a food similar to "lagana" in his
Travels, but he uses a term with which he was already familiar. -urum wheat, and thus
pasta as it is known today, was introduced by %rabs during their conquest of #icily in the
late 6th century, according to the newsletter of the &ational 9acaroni 9anufacturers
%ssociation,
/<51
thus predating 9arco 3oloDs tra!els to )hina by about si* centuries.
In the <st century B) writings of (orace, lagana were fine sheets of dough which were
fried
/<01
and were an e!eryday food.
/<<1
Writing in the ,nd century %thenaeus of &aucratis
pro!ides a recipe for lagana which he attributes to the <st century )hrysippus of Tyana'
sheets of dough made of wheat flour and the Euice of crushed lettuce, then fla!ored with
spices and deep-fried in oil.
/<<1
%n early 5th century cookbook describes a dish called
lagana that consisted of layers of dough with meat stuffing, a possible ancestor of
modern-day Lasagna.
/<<1
But the method of cooking these sheets of dough does not
correspond to our modern definition of either a fresh or dry pasta product. The first
concrete information concerning pasta products in Italy dates from the thirteenth or
fourteenth century.
/<61
The question of 3astaDs origin continues to e!oke speculation. The
name (FGHIJG, lagna" sur!i!es in modern-day .reece to denote an unlea!ened, flat
bread eaten during the .reat Aent.
/citation needed1
The term "lagana" is also used in the
#outhern region of )alabria, where it indicates a flat noodle.
/citation needed1
Pasta (Italian pasta, from Aatin pasta "dough, pastry cake", from .reek KGLMI (pasta"
"barley porridge"
/<1
" is a generic term for !ariants of noodles, food made from a dough of
flour, water andNor eggs. The word can also denote dishes in which pasta products are the
primary ingredient, ser!ed with sauce or seasonings.
There are appro*imately 45?? different shapes of pasta.
/,1
$*amples include spaghetti
(thin rods", macaroni (tubes or cylinders", fusilli (swirls", and lasagne (sheets". Two other
noodles, gnocchi and spOtle, are sometimes considered pasta. They are both traditional
in parts of Italy. 3asta is categoried in two basic styles' dried and fresh. -ried pasta
made without eggs can be stored for up to two years under ideal conditions, while fresh
pasta will keep for a couple of days in the refrigerator.
/41
In preparation for consumption,
pasta is generally boiled
3asta is generally ser!ed with some type of sauceP the sauce and the type of pasta are
usually matched based on consistency, ease of eating etc, much in the same way round
buns are used for hamburgers and long buns are used for hotdogs in the C#. )ommon
pasta sauces in &orthern Italy include pesto and ragQ alla bolognese, which usually adds
meat to the sauce. In )entral Italy, there are simple sauces such as tomato sauce,
amatriciana and carbonara. #outhern Italian sauces include spicy tomato, garlic, and oli!e
oil, with the pasta often paired with fresh !egetables or seafood. >arieties include
puttanesca, pasta alla norma (tomatoes, eggplant and fresh or baked cheese", pasta con
le sarde (fresh sardines, pine nuts, fennel and oli!e oil", spaghetti aglio, olio e
peperoncino (literally with garlic, /oli!e1 oil and hot chili peppers".
+resh pasta
+ettuccine alfredo with cream and cheese, and spaghetti with tomato sauce (with or
without ground meat or meatballs" are popular Italian-style dishes in the Cnited #tates.
%s pasta was introduced elsewhere in the world, it became incorporated into a number of
local cuisines, which often ha!e significantly different ways of preparation from those of
Italy. In (ong :ong, the local )hinese ha!e adopted pasta, primarily spaghetti and
macaroni, as an ingredient in the (ong :ong-style Western cuisine. In )ha chaan teng,
macaroni is cooked in water and ser!ed in broth with ham or frankfurter sausages, peas,
black mushrooms, and optionally eggs, reminiscent of noodle soup dishes. This is often a
course for breakfast or light lunch fare.
/<81
This method often in!ol!es cooking the pasta
well beyond the al dente stage and washing the starches off the pasta after cooking,
measures frowned upon in Italy or in (ong :ongDs more authentic Italian eateries. Two
common spaghetti dishes ser!ed in 2apan are the Bolognese (" and the
&apolitan (". In India, 9acaroni has been adopted and cooked in an
Indianied way. Boiled macaroni is sautRed along with Eeera, turmeric, finely chopped
green chillies, onions S cabbage.
American Pasta
I snipped the bit about when pasta was brought to the Cnited #tates. It itDs irrele!ent to
the history of pasta as no new de!elopment of pasta occured. It is also not the place to list
when pasta arri!ed to !arious countries, are you going to list when it arri!ed to 2apan,
$stonia and Ba!aria alsoT @therwise the 3@> is %merico-centric.
If you want to include this section, and if it is indeed that interesting, I suggest a "pasta in
the C#% section"
Thomas 2efferson is credited with bringing the first macaroni machine to %merica in
<687 when he returned home after ser!ing as ambassador to +rance.
/citation needed1
The first
commercial pasta manufacturer in %merica was %ntoine Uerega, a +renchman of Italian
descent who began making pasta in Brooklyn, &ew Vork )ity, &ew Vork, in <8=8.
/<1
-imensional dan ?<'54, 7 -ecember ,??0 (CT)"
ORIGIN OF PASTA
%s with most foods which are popular and which ha!e spread
throughout the world the history of pasta has been romanticied
through legend and myth. % romantic story about 9arco 3olo bringing
pasta back to Italy on his return from the mystical )hina was gi!en
credence for many years. The origin and thus the history of pasta
depends on how you define it.
There e*ists !alid e!idence that the ancient $truscans prepared a food
made out of a wheat and egg paste, which is basically what pasta is,
howe!er the $truscans baked their WpastaX and didnDt boil it, so we
ha!e to decide is a baked wheat and egg mi*ture so different to a
boiled mi*ture that they are two different types of food. %rcheologists
ha!e disco!ered artifacts from 4,??? years ago that look astonishingly
like present day pasta e*truders and dies. Cnfortunately the food, if
indeed it was food that these artifacts were used on was not preser!ed.
There is no doubt that the ancient .reeks used some form of flattened
dough that resembled lasagna. (owe!er this wheat, egg and water
mi*ture was roasted on hot stones. Whether this should be called
WbakingX and whether the end result should be called DpastaD is best left
to semantics. By the first century %-, ;omans were eating a layered
dish made out of DlasagnaD and meat or fish.
;eferences in the Talmud show that cooking noodles was
commonplace by the 5
th
century %-.
The claim that pasta spread from Arabia to Italy via the incursion of Islam into
Sicily is undoubtedly given credence by these written records. It stands to reason
that the Arabs would have taken foods with them which traveled well and
certainly a flour based product in the shape of strings which was produced in
Palermo round about this time would certainly fit the bill.
I have previously referred to the myth or legend surrounding Marco Polo and his
supposed bringing back pasta to Italy on his return from China in !"#.
$nfortunately for this story however% there are Italian recipe books from !& years
earlier which contain references to% and recipes for% pasta dishes. 'ne thing is
certain however and that is that Marco Polo did indeed encounter pasta on his
travels through China. 'nce we understand that China is a very ancient
civili(ation)culture dating back over #%&&& years it becomes apparent that the
Chinese knew about pasta very early on in their civili(ation.
.%s Italian and #panish e*plorers sailed the seas in search of new
lands, during the <=
th
century, pasta spread to the W&ew WorldX of the
%mericas. By the <5
th
century pasta WtubesX were being enEoyed in
Italian monasteries. By the <6
th
century pasta was a common food
throughout the region.
In the &ew World, pasta grew in popularity through the <8th century.
By its end, it graced the table of Thomas 2efferson and commoner
alike. When the %merican %mbassador returned from +rance in <687
he brought with him a macaroni maker that he used to delight friends.
The ubiquitous macaroni and cheese, certainly together with spaghetti
bolognaise, one of the most popular pasta dishes achie!ed the status of
soul food or comfort food amongst %merican sla!es in the -eep #outh
by the time of the ci!il war in the mid <7
th
century.
The large Italian immigration into the C#% around the beginning of
the ,?
th
century placed pasta firmly on %merican tables. In much the
same way a large influ* of Italians into #outh %frica ensured that
macaroni cheese, spaghetti and meatballs, lasagna and a great many
other forms of pasta became an integral part of the #outh %frican diet.
In fact pasta can Eustifiably be considered a staple of #outh %frican and
%merican diets, at least insofar as the Italian section of those
populations are concerned.
. 'ne thing is abundantly clear% no matter which story of pasta*s origins appeals
to you% pasta% in its many forms is here to stay
Italy 2.030.454 t
United 6tates 7.555.555 t
8razil 0.555.555 t
!urkey 499.252 t
)ussia 4:4.555 t
Nutritional values
3asta is an all rounder in the world of gourmet. It fairs as a comfort food, snack and a
nutritious element, all at one go. 3asta is a good option for those who count their diet in
e!ery bite. % <?? gram of pasta deli!ers your system 45? :cal, a healthy protein dose of
<<Y-<,Y and less than <Y fat. Vour digesti!e system takes less pain to absorb pasta and
this gifts you the lu*ury to indulge in any kind of seasoning or garnishing before ha!ing a
bite of your fa!ourite pasta. 9oreo!er pasta is like a nullified substance with little
e*istence of !itamins and mineral salts, e*cept potassium. &aturally, the cook can
determine the nutritional !alue of a particular kind of pasta by adding his or her required
amount of meat, fish, legumes, !egetables and !arious sauces. In a way we can say that
pasta is a food that we can customise according to our taste bud and health requirement, a
unique dietary attribute indeed.
In India
+ighlights
The market for Pasta , -oodles in India increased between !&&&.!&&#% growing at an average
annual rate of ".!/. The leading company in the market in !&&# was -estle S.A. The second.
largest player was -issin 0ood Products Co 1td with Chaudary 2roup in third place