All About Pasta

Pasta

Pasta is typically made from flour water and or eggs; it is kneaded and made into various shapes. Pasta can either be found fresh or dried. If it is dry pasta it is made with Semolina instead of flour and are rolled between copper rollers and cooked al dente (with a slight bite). Pasta can also be made from other grains such as buckwheat flour which Pizzoccheri is made from and milled potatoes which gnocchi are made from.

When pasta is made it is forced through holes in a plate known as a die or by lamination where the dough is kneaded, folded, rolled to a certain thickness, then cut by slitters. Fresh pasta cooks quicker then dry, but spoils a lot quicker due to the high water contain. Dried pasta has a shelf life of about 3 years. Pasta can also be found either refrigerated or frozen, which has a shelf life of 7 weeks.

History of Pasta

Some people think that the spread of Pasta into Europe started with the Arabs. This theory is based on the belief that nomadic people needed to prove themselves with a supply of preserved foods. It is based on the assumption that the nomads either lived near cereal farmers or they were millers themselves either by milling by little hand mills or with a larger mills. The Greeks and Romans were known as farmers or wheat and refined consumers of this product. It is said that leavened bread over all other cereal based dishes remained solely in the conception of the Western societies. By this reasoning it is said that gruels and mushes represented the first stage of cereal based diets. The origin of pasta is a subject of many myths. Some scholars don’t believe the legend of Marco Polo’s importation of pasta from China. Before his return in 1296 the Mediterranean basin was for trade in obra de pasta as pasta products were at the time known in Cagliari, Sardinia. That indicates that pasta was a part of certain Mediterranean people. Other believes that a peasant woman Libista was the inventor of the ravioli. Similarly lasagna has been created by Meluzza Comasca who was given a celebrity’s funeral after her death.

The words macharoni and vermicelli are attested in Italy as early as the thirteen and fourteenth century, it took culinary text until the fifteenth century to confirm the existence of these two shapes. By the fourteenth century, the Italian people developed forks for eating pasta, indicated the popular consumption of pasta.



Accompaniments

The common pasta sauces of Northern Italy are Pesto (basil, olive oil, garlic and grated cheese) and ragu alla Bolognese (a meat sauce). In Central Italy it is a simple tomato sauce and amatrician and carbonara. In Southern Italy it is a spicy tomato, garlic and olive oil based sauces it is often paired with fresh vegetables or seafood. In the United States the most popular dished are Fettuccine Alfredo, spaghetti with tomato sauce with or without meatballs or just plain butter and cheese.



Pasta Varieties

There are many different shapes and sizes, it comes in simple string shapes called spaghetti and vermicelli. Long ribbon shaped called fettuccine and linguine. Short tube pasta like elbow and penne, long sheet like lasagna and stuffed with fillings like ravioli, manicotti and tortellini.