When was pasta first made

By the 14 th century, pasta had become a staple in Rome and Florence. In later centuries, as it became available in dried forms and sold in shops, pasta grew more and more popular, until by the 19th century, it achieved a presence and stature in Italian cuisine that continues to evolve to the present day. The extraordinary variety and sophistication of pasta dishes now — from Bucatini alla Amatriciana to Linguine al Pesto are part of a century-long evolution.

Pasta is simple, really. The traditional Italian pasta we know and love today is made with semolina, or coarsely ground wheat flour. So then, what does it take to make great pasta? The difference is in the quality of the ingredients and how the pasta is made. Wheat is crucial in the pasta making process. DeLallo Pasta is made with hard durum wheat—a top-quality wheat with a super high gluten content. This gluten content is what gives pasta its desirable al dente texture.

That is, a firm but tender bite. Along with the quality of wheat, the texture of the semolina matters too.

At DeLallo, we expertly mill our grains for the perfect coarse grind, lending to the texture of the finished pasta. Bronze vs. With the demand for pasta growing exponentially over the years, the artisanal approach to pasta-making has been lost to faster, unflattering methods. Traditionally, pasta is formed by extruding dough through bronze dies, or bronze plates. This gives pasta a rough surface texture ideal for capturing and absorbing sauces. These days, most pasta makers use Teflon to extrude pasta.

However, most producers worldwide use steel molds that produce pasta that is too smooth to hold onto sauce. Fortunately, more pasta makers outside of Italy are starting to use the older style copper molds.

After the pasta is cut it must be dried using a process of specific temperature and time. This is another area where mass-produced pasta falls short of good Italian pasta made the correct way.

The mass-produced kinds of pasta are dried at very high temperatures for a shorter time than quality pasta. Traditional pasta is allowed to dry slower, up to 50 hours at a much lower temperature. It is after the pasta is fully dried that it is packaged.

The result is a product with a much better mouth-feel, quicker cooking time, and superior sauce-holding noodles. Another important side of the history of Pasta in Italy is the Italian fresh pasta! Fresh pasta can be made with slightly different ingredients than the dried variety. Many northern regions of Italy use all-purpose flour and eggs while southern Italy usually makes theirs from semolina and water but it depends upon the recipe.

However fresh pasta is not inherently better than dried pasta, it is just different and is used in different situations. Some types of pasta are served only fresh, others only dried and some others can have fresh and dried versions. It is in this case that it can be argued that fresh is better than dried pasta. Fresh pasta has been made in households throughout Italy for generations but the region of Emilia-Romagna has the reputation of making the best. Here fresh pasta is often served with cream sauces or a simple sauce of butter and sage while light tomato sauces are reserved for the summer months.

Following the simple but important rule of using fresh local ingredients, the Piedmontese serve their fresh pasta with a butter sauce covered with slices of decadent local black truffles. Wherever you are in Italy, being served fresh homemade pasta is a real treat as you can be assured that the pasta was made that day and will have a taste that will make you rethink notions of what good pasta is. When buying either fresh or dried pasta, look for a well-made brand that uses the best ingredients such as only semolina flour for dried pasta.

The pasta should have a rough surface and not be too smooth, as smooth pasta will not hold onto the sauce. The noodles should be compact and heavy for their size in order to stay together when cooking. Remember to stay away from mass-produced cheap pasta, you will just be disappointed come dinnertime.

For fresh pasta look for the expiration date on the package and take a good look at the pasta. If it looks cheap then it probably is, if the pasta feels heavy in the package and has a nice color and texture it is worth buying. Many Italian bakeries and groceries also make fresh pasta that will be better than anything you could find at a supermarket and you may even get a family sauce recipe as well.

It cannot be stressed enough; cook pasta until it is al dente , firm to the teeth yet tender. Many Americans cook pasta until it is too soft, a minute or two less of cooking time will give you authentic Italian pasta. Fresh pasta will take even less time to be cooked to perfection.

Another key to perfect pasta is to use a large cooking pot and plenty of water; this will stop the pasta from sticking and will also ensure every inch of pasta will be cooked through. Some people add a little olive oil to the cooking water to stop the pasta from sticking and while that works for larger pasta like lasagna it is not necessary if you use a large pot, plenty of water, and remember to stir the pasta. When draining the pasta remember to save about a cup of the water in the pot, this starchy water will add a little body to whatever sauce you choose.

Washing off all that starch and salt will kill any flavor your pasta once had. When it comes to sauce it is really up to personal preference unless you are trying to follow a traditional recipe. It took the muslims hundreds of years and repeated attempts to capture Sicily, and we took it back after about Live with it.

A casual observation in the Book of Roger mentions that in the Sicilian town of Trabia the inhabitants made a form of pasta from hard wheat, and that this product, shaped into long strands, was manufactured in large quantity for export to other regions. Tha is absolutely not true, Marco Polo was born much later than the first historical records mentioning pasta which was in Sicily.

Who cares?! Bro im eating some spinach fettuccini carbonara right now and fuccin hell its so good. Searching about past while I eat pasta cause i like pasta ya feel me? Noodles may have come from Asia, but the most important ingredient of pasta is the sauce. Until Italians added the sauce, they were just noodles!

This is all very interesting. Jackson you are correct about Kit Kat. Yorkshire Pudding really was invented in Yorkshire, a county in England. That was at the height of the Roman Empire.

The Arabs only came to Libya in the 7th century. If anything, the Romans and Greeks brought pasta to the Middle East. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

History and Origin of Pasta Image Source. Italians developed pasta made from semolina flour independent of chinese noodles which use buckwheat or rice flour. Raymond L Boyd February 17, am. Jose Luis June 3, pm. Stop spreading fake history, you crazy Afrocentric. Greek Myth Fanatic October 16, am. Lame June 29, pm. Tibet, manchuria is Asia.

What are you talking about??? March 22, pm. Janina Gough August 17, am. Are you Italian. Mario December 6, pm.

Oh mamma Mia youa righta we Italians gotta speaka the truth about the origins of the pasta. Angelo F. Coniglio June 27, am. Thomas Reinertsen Berg August 4, am.