Italy is the home of good food and some of the most popular dishes such as pasta. There are many myths surrounding the history of pasta. One was that it was invented by a peasant woman in Lombardi, called Libista and that she also invented Ravioli and Lasagna. The other and most famous, is that Marco Polo, the Venetian merchant brought back pasta from his journeys in China.
Both stories are incorrect. Apparently, there are pasta recipes dating back to 800 AD. The Etrusco Roman noodle made from durum wheat which was called “lagane” was already around at the time. It was not boiled pasta, but cooked in the oven as it was not dry pasta.
The first pasta shapes were in Medieval Italian cookbooks that have recipes for lasagna, linguini, vermicelli and ravioli. Pasta was only for the rich and the poor would combine it in soups and broths or almond milk to make mush. Gnocchi was made in the 14th century, the same style as today’s, although made with flour and cheese instead of potatoes. Now there are about 350 different varieties and shapes of dried pasta. (There are more in you count regional differences).
So where did pasta come from? Spaghetti came from Arabic countries and Eygpt was known for is Kamut crops which made kamut pasta types. A pasta shape called fregola came from Africa. In Greece, pasta was the staple diet and was in a lot of recipes such as pastitsio and orzo. Sicily were introduced to the technique of drying pasta by Arabs back in the 12th century. However, this dried pasta in was only popular in the south as those in northern Italy looked down on anything but fresh pasta. It would be another 400 years before manufacturing of pasta really took off.
In the 1600s manufacturing pasta plants were built all along the Italian coast up to San Remo. By the mid 1700s, four manufactures of pasta were registered in the city. Later Tuscany opened up a plant (in 1860) and it is still in operation today. When the Italians migrated to The United States of America, they took with them their pasta recipes and in 1848, the first pasta manufacturing plant in the US was opened. Opened in Brooklyn New York, it is home to the second largest population of Italians in the world and Manhattan is home to “Little Italy”.
Now you know a little bit more about the history of pasta, you will be able to appreciate pasta when you next have a dish. There are many Italian restaurants around the world and some are better than others. A new chain of restaurants that have opened up in the UK is Jamie’s Italian which serves delicious and authentic Italian food. However, the best place to sample Italian food, is Italy, where there are a number of Italian restaurants to suit any budget.
This guest article about the history of pasta was submited by the team working with World Accom who suggest that when travelling to Italy, why not check out the many apartments in Rome for rent. It can sometimes work out cheaper for you and your family or friends, than staying in a hotel. Plus you can even try making your own pasta in at home (in your rented apartment), like a real Italian.
