What about pasta
Pasta is one of the world’s most accessible foods. Nearly every country has its own unique version of this popular, simple, healthy, inexpensive nutriment.
So, what do you know about pasta?
As Tori Avey writes in The History Kitchen, “The history of pasta is difficult to trace for several reasons. The word itself translates to ‘paste’ in Italian. This is a reference to the dough, made from a combination of flour and water or eggs – all simple components that have been around for centuries. This makes it hard to differentiate pasta from other ancient dishes made from the same ingredients. In addition, since pasta has long been a food of the common people, it has not received as much attention as more extravagant foods.”
While pasta is traditionally Italian, it actually has a very ancient history that makes it almost impossible to know who came up with the dish first. That's one of the several reasons why pasta is difficult to trace. The word itself translates to pasta in Italian. This is a reference to the dough, made from a combination of flour and water or eggs, all simple components that have been around for centuries. Before pasta was a thing Italy, the northern Chinese were also developing something similar: noodles. This makes it hard to differentiate pasta from other ancient dishes made from the same ingredients.
Since at least the time of Cato's De Agri Cultura, basic pasta dough has been made mostly of wheat flour or semolina, with durum wheat used predominantly in the South of Italy and soft wheat in the North. Regionally other grains have been used, including those from barley, buckwheat, rye, rice, and maize, as well as chestnut and chickpea flours.
Whilst in some areas old noodles still look the same as thousands of years ago, Italian creativity brought continuous evolution and experimentation in design of shapes. Both dried (pasta secca) and fresh (pasta fresca) pastas come in a number of shapes and varieties, with 310 specific forms known by over 1300 documented names just in Italy where the names of specific pasta shapes or types often vary by locale. For instance, the pasta form cavatelli is known by 28 different names depending upon the town and region.
In 2018 14,5 million tons of pasta have been produced all over the world.
It is estimated that Italians eat over 27 kg (60 lb) of pasta per person per year. Other top consumers are Tunisia, Venezuela, Greece and Chile. Americans eat about 9 kg (20 lb) per person.
More about pasta
This is one of the many posts available on this blog