There are great love affairs that permeate the ages: Anthony and Cleopatra, Rhett and Scarlet, Samson and Delilah…Everyone and Pasta.
There’s something almost magical about digging into a heaping plate of piping hot noodles slathered in tangy red sauce…or pudgy pasta squares bulging with velvety ricotta. Besides your mother, pasta might actually have been your first love. How many of us began our eating careers gleefully squishing and slurping our way through a bowl of simple spaghetti?
Yesterday, just like today: at work making pasta, sometimes in the Middle Ages
Long, short, skinny, wide, twisted, curled, pinched, tied – pasta in all its glorious forms is ubiquitous to Italy, a food staple that might rank #1 on a list of “What do you think of f when you think of Italy?” And naturally, one assumes the first plate of pasta was introduced to humanity eons ago on the beautiful Italian peninsula. But in actuality, the origin of pasta as we know and love it today is a bit convoluted…a topic still being noodled over in search of a verifiable timeline.
Women at work making fresh pasta in Bari’s old town ©Dreamstime
A long-standing myth says that Venetian explorer Marco Polo returned from his adventures in China in 1295 with pasta in hand, introducing it to his native countrymen. Undoubtedly, Mr. Polo returned with many culinary delights, but evidence is rather plentiful that pasta already existed in Italy by this time and was already gaining popularity during the 13th century. The 1279 will of a Genoan soldier requests a small basket of macaroni, “bariscella piena de macarone” be left to a beloved, certainly referring to the elevated status of pasta some years before Marco’s return.
A look back at ancient China is a good beginning for deciphering pasta’s beginnings. Undoubtedly, noodles made from rice and other flours have been a staple in China and throughout Asia since antiquity. As expeditions and invasions moved westward, so did the noodles.
Even if the advent of mechanical production reduced the amount of pasta made by hand, many still love to do it
Although no one knows exactly when the first bowl of chow mein was eaten on European soil, speculation and a little academic input suggest that Arabs originally introduced noodles to the Mediterranean world in the 8th century. Although these noodles were quite different from what we consider pasta today, the Arabic contributions of sauces and spices are still an engrained part of southern Italian culture.
Some like to claim that pasta existed in Italy long before the 8th century, based on a carved relief found in a 4th century BC Etruscan tomb in Cerveteri. Frozen in time, the relief depicts a flour sack, a tool that could plausibly be used for shaping pasta, a board resembling a contemporary pasta board, and a knife – all one needs to make pasta.
Despite the romantic appeal of this interpretation, archeologists have dismissed this oft-repeated and probable urban myth. Based on other digs and comparable research, conclusions strongly suggest that the relief is simply not a pasta how-to for the afterlife.
Molecular archeology has also yet to unveil any evidence of durum wheat, the necessary ingredient for durable pasta, in ancient Etruscan, as well as Roman and Greek, ruins. American culinary historian Charles Perry has explored pasta’s origins and he, too, offers rebuttal: “…no sure Roman reference to a noodle of any kind, tubular or flat, has turned up, and that makes the Etruscan theory even more unlikely…” Though it makes a good story, the evidence begs we toss out the idea that these civilizations discussed the day’s news over a bowl of savory rigatoni.
If it’s fairly safe to say, then, that pasta wasn’t invented in Italy, how has it developed into the one food that passionately embodies Italian cuisine and culture? A look back at the aforementioned Arab introduction of noodles holds the answer.
Proud of making fresh pasta! A real Italian tradition, with a history dating back centuries © Lorenzo Daloiso | Dreamstime.com
Though Arab culinary influence was a part of the Sicilian scenery from the 8th century onward, not much changed until the 12th century, when durum wheat made its first known appearance. Necessary for producing a pasta that is sturdy enough to be stretched paper-thin, dry without cracking, and stand up to boiling yet retain a pleasing texture and taste, the availability of durum wheat was a definite game changer.
Sicily and southern Italy’s sunny climate combined with hot, dry volcanic air and cooling sea breezes proved ideal for cultivation of this wheat…and for the new-fangled technique of drying pasta introduced by the Arabs. From Sicily into Campania and onwards to Naples, the elegantly simple combination of durum wheat and water developed into a robust pasta industry with commercial production recorded as far back as the 1400s.
Though popular, pasta was still considered the food of aristocrats and unheard of on a peasant’s plate other than for bits and scraps tossed in soups. Why so? Simply put…labor costs. Tough-as-nails durum wheat had to be pounded endlessly and coaxed into particles delicate enough for creating a dough. Barefoot laborers put feet to dough, sometimes for days, stomping it into submission to be then rolled into sheets. Once suitable, the dough was muscled into presses powered by man and beast as the final product was extruded under great pressure. Overlaid with Arab-influenced sauces combining spicy, sweet, and savory flavors, the rich filled their bellies with the delectable results of this laborious process.
All that changed, however, when mechanical production of pasta came about in Naples in the 1600s. Times were hard, meat and produce were scarce, but wheat was not. Pasta shops blossomed throughout southern Italy. Neapolitans became known as “mangia-maccheroni” – macaroni eaters – who famously shoveled handfuls of noodles from plate to mouth. This new era of easy-access pasta spread quickly throughout Italy. From 1700 to 1785 in Naples alone, pasta shops grew from 60 to 280.
Though it’s hard to imagine pasta minus its sidekick of a savory tomato sauce, this coupling didn’t occur until around 1839 when the first documented recipe appeared. Due to yet another wave of economic hard times, the red fruit once thought to be poisonous was now eaten out of desperation…and oh, the delicious consequence we enjoy because of it! The perfect growing conditions of southern Italy made easy access to abundant fresh produce, and when combined with Italian culinary ingenuity, a wealth of our favorite sauces and pasta dishes came to life.
Even though Italians can’t lay claim to its invention, they can unequivocally claim ownership of Italy’s love affair with pasta and how it is eaten today everywhere in the world, with 84 percent of people worldwide claiming they like Italian food! The average Italian consumes 60 pounds of pasta each year – enough spaghetti to wind around the world about 15.000 times. The verve, passion, and superior quality so intricately a part of Italian food culture lives mightily in pasta; this love affair looks to last forever. Viva la pasta!
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