Then there are some types of pasta made throughout Italy “just for fun,” according to Segan, like orecchiette, which means “little ear,” or the priest choker pasta from Umbria (more on that later), or chitarra, the strands of pasta cut using guitar strings.
PASTA SHAPES AND NAMES CRACK
The combination of sun, wind, and heat in that area turned out to be perfect for dried pasta, which will crack if it dries too quickly and can get moldy if it’s wet for too long. Gragnano is situated on a hill, between the mountains and the Amalfi Coast. The first documented factory for pasta was there, because that area had the best air currents, which dried the pasta faster,” Segan says. “The big center of dried pasta was Gragnano, near Naples. Longer pasta shapes, like spaghetti, appeared early on too, simply because they were easy to make by hand and were easy to dry. The ancient Romans probably also ate a dish similar to lasagna with layers of sauce and cheese.
The first version of Italian pasta probably looked a lot like lasagne because, as Segan points out, you can imagine how easy it would have been to roll out. It had a longer shelf life, and it could be sold longer if it was dried.” The first pasta factories were down there. The south was generally poorer, so they couldn’t afford the egg. “Generally in the north, pasta is made fresh,” explains Segan. To understand how so many types of pasta emerged, you first have to understand the climate, geography, and economics of Italy. So each ‘region’ had their different styles.” “They were thinking of themselves as 20 different countries. “In Italy there were 20 different regions, but they weren’t unified ,” Segan explains. The latter is believable considering each shape and style is deeply entrenched in the region it’s made. Some sources put the number around 350 others say it’s closer to an astonishing 600, with new ones being invented all the time. Today, there is some debate surrounding exactly how many types of pasta exist in Italy. Twitter How many types of pasta are there? They would press your family seal, or your coat of arms, or initials into the little circle of pasta.” “Then, in the Middle Ages, they would take a cookie cutter and make little circles. “The ancient Romans ate pasta similar to pappardelle with beans,” Francine Segan, a food historian who specializes in documenting the evolution of Italian food, tells me. No matter how noodles arrived in Mediterranean countries, there’s no question that the Italians were making, and perfecting, pasta as far back as 800 CE - at least 500 years before Marco Polo left China - with a set of simple, inexpensive ingredients: flour and water (and an egg for most fresh pastas), the same tried and true ingredients that are used today. What is known is that noodles originated in Asia. That, not the Marco Polo story, is probably as close to the true story as we’ll ever get.
The other is that Arab tribes introduced the West (what would later be called Europe) to noodles, inspired by cuisine they had encountered in Asia hundreds of years earlier. One is that Marco Polo introduced the hungry population to the concept of noodles after a 17-year jaunt around China in the 13th century. The texture and taste provide a beautiful landing place for clams or fresh tomatoes and basil.There are competing stories as to how pasta first came to what is now Italy. I prefer fresh home made scialatielli to the dried version. Created in the 1960s by a local chef, they are short, thick and rectangular.
flour types, vegetables, olive oil, milk, cheese etc.).Īfter months of increased pasta making time, here are my favorite home made pasta shapes, in no particular order. That being said, there’s no substitute for practice in different weather, at different times of day, with different types of flours, in different kitchens and with different ingredients (i.e. I am also very fortunate to have made pasta with cooks around Italy.
I’ve watched endless pasta making episodes online. I’ve learned about hydration from our lovely Carolyn and from researching and reading and from rolling out pasta over and over and over. Pasta making has once again become a part of my kitchen fun. Since launching Casa Mia’s online interactive lessons, I’ve upped my hours in the kitchen learning different pasta shapes, and hitting the board, that is my beloved pasta board.