Pasta in general

The word pasta literally means ‘dough’ or ‘paste’. Pasta is a generic term used in reference to the whole range of products commonly known as spaghetti, macaroni, and noodles.

Italians, who are the largest consumers of pasta products in the world, call this product ‘pasta alimentare’.

Basic pasta is made with durum wheat semolina and waters which is passed through a die to make shaped pastas or long pasta such as spaghetti.

The basic pasta dough may be flavored or colored in various ways and common flavorings include spinach, garlic and chopped herbs.

Production and consumption of the various pasta products, which number approximately 150 in the United States , including spaghetti and macaroni; short cut products such as elbows, shells, and noodles; and such specialty products as bow ties, rigatoni, lasagna, etc.

Its preparation, essentially a household activity is both easy and quick and this probably explains, at least in part, why pasta is one of the most widespread pleasures of the world’s table.

It is rates as one of the most versatile food. It is adaptable to just about any vegetable, meat or fish one might have on hand.

Italy is generally regarded as the home of pasta products. They appear to have been first developed in Sicily and later in Japan. Certainly Italy is the country which pasta products are most readily identified.

It is on record that the Chinese at pasta as early as 5,000 BC. Pasta products, as what the people know them, were first made in Italy over 800 years ago. In the fifteenth century, Italians learned how to make noodles from the Germans, who had previously learned the process in their travels to Asia.

Others argue that the Roman poet Horace was the first to write about pasta with his mention of laganum, a possible ancestor do today’s lasagna.

Some think that Marco Polo brought pasta to Italy in 1279. It doesn’t take an expert to confirm that a pasta is Italy’s most famous and popular food, the country’s preeminent contribution to its culinary culture.

In Germany, this product is called Nudeln, and it is still the more popular type of pasta consumed in that country.
Pasta in general