PASTA

Pasta is an Italian food made from dough using flour, water and/or eggs.

There are approximately 350 different shapes of pasta. A few examples include spaghetti(solid, thin cylinders), maccheroni (tubes or hollow cylinders), fisilli (swirls), lasagne (sheets), and gnocchi (balls), although this is considered a separate dish by some.

The two basic styles of pasta are dried and fresh. There are also variations in the ingredients used in pasta. The time for which pasta can be stored varies from days to years depending upon whether the pasta is made with egg or not, and whether it is dried or fresh. Pasta is boiled prior to consumption.

The word, pasta, can also denote dishes in which pasta products are the primary ingredient, served with sauce or seasonings.

Though the Chinese were eating noodles as long ago as 2000 BC (this is known thanks to the discovery of a well-preserved bowl of noodles over 4000 years old), the familiar legend of Marco Polo importing pasta from China is just that—a legend, whose origins lie not in Polo's Travels, but in the newsletter of the National Macaroni Manufacturers Association. The works of the 2nd century CE Greek physician Galen mention itrion, homogeneous compounds made up of flour and water. The Jerusalem Talmud records that itrium, a kind of boiled dough, was common in Palestine from the 3rd to 5th centuries CE. A dictionary compiled by the 9th century Syrian physician and lexicographer Isho bar Ali defines itriyya as stringlike pasta shapes made of semolina and dried before cooking, a recognizable ancestor of modern-day dried pasta.

Whatever its origin, there is no doubt that even if pasta wasn't invented in Italy, it was certainly the Italians who perfected the art of pasta making.

Dried pasta became popular through the 14th and 15th Centuries, as it could be easily stored on ships setting out to explore the New World. Various types of pasta, including long hollow tubes, are mentioned in the 15th Century records of Italian and Dominican monasteries. By the 17th Century, pasta had become part of the daily diet throughout Italy because it was economical, readily available and versatile.

Thomas Jefferson has been credited with bringing the first "macaroni" maker to America in 1789, but full advent of electricity in the 1900's made life a lot easier for the pasta industry. Machines took over the labour intensive chores like mixing the dough and cutting the shapes.

History of Pasta Shapes & Sauces
Many pasta sauces have a long and interesting history. Legend has it that the traditional cream and cheese sauce, Alfredo, takes its name from its creator, a Rome restaurateur called Alfredo. Carbonara sauce was believed to be devised during WW2, when American soldiers in Italy asked for bacon and eggs for breakfast. The Italians compromised by creating a bacon, egg and cream pasta sauce. And everyone's favourite, Bolognese, originated from the region of Bologna in Italy.

The meaning of 'al dente'
'Al dente' is used to describe when pasta is cooked to perfection. 'Al dente' in Italian literally means "to the tooth". Pasta that is al dente should not be overly firm, nor should it be overly soft. This is often difficult to measure in minutes, as factors such as the temperature of the water, the size of the pot etc will affect the length of time that is required to cook the pasta. San Remo therefore recommends that the product is tested prior to deciding if it is ready.

Some of the most popular food items that get tossed into a bowl of pasta are, according to the American Pasta Report, when it comes to favorite items, cheese was the most popular food choice (37%), followed by meat (32%), vegetables (31%) and seafood (20%).

In contrast to the popular belief, Pasta is not fattening. If you eat too much of any food, you can gain weight. According to USDA's Handbook 8-20, a 1/2 cup serving of cooked pasta (spaghetti) contains a mere 99 calories, less than half a gram of fat, and less than 5 milligrams of sodium.

How is pasta made?

1. Mixing
American dry pasta is made with semolina, which is produced by grinding kernels of durum wheat. Sometimes other hard wheats are also used. The semolina is mixed with water until it forms a dough. If any other ingredients are being added to the pasta, such as eggs to make egg noodles, or spinach or tomato to make red or green colored pasta, those ingredients are added at this stage.

2. Extruding
The dough is kneaded until it reaches the correct consistency, and then it is pushed, or extruded, through a die, a metal disc with holes in it. The size and shape of the holes in the die determine what the shape of the pasta will be. For instance, dies with round or oval holes will produce solid, long shapes of pasta, such as spaghetti. When the extruded pasta reaches the right length, it is cut with sharp blades that rotate beneath the die.

3. Drying
The pasta is then sent through large dryers which circulate hot, moist air to slowly dry the pasta. Because different pasta shapes vary in degrees of thickness, they dry for different lengths of time. Most take 5 or 6 hours to dry.

4. Packing
The dried pasta is then packed in bags or boxes. Some of the more fragile pasta shapes, such as lasagne and manicotti, are often packed by hand to protect them from breaking.

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Lasagne
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