The beginning
The myth that Marco Polo brought Pasta in Italy from his trip to China comes from the fact that in his journal writes " I found them eating noodles". Nothing could be further from the truth. The beginning of pasta date back to times of yore. The first hint we have of pasta comes from the tools used for making and cooking pasta fund in a Etruscan tomb. Shortly after the birth of Christ, a chef named Apicius mentions something which sounds a lot like Lasagna in his book of recipes. Around the year 1000, we have the first documented recipe for pasta in the book "De arte Coquinaria per vermicelli e maccaroni siciliani" (The art of cooking sicilian maccaroni and vermicelli) written by Martino Corno, chef to the powerful Patriarch of Aquilea.
Pasta was certainly well know in Arab countries, where still today they speack of "makkaroni". From these countries it spread to Greece and Sicily (then an Arab colony). In fact, Palermo was the first historical capital of pasta, because it is here that the first historical sources referring to the production of dried pasta in what seems like a small-scale industrial . In 1150, Arab geographer Al-Idrisi reports that at Trabia, about 30 km. from Palermo, "they produce an abundance of pasta in the shape of strings ("tria" in Arabic) which are exported everywhere, in Calabria and in many Muslim and Christian countries, even by ships.
1279...."a basket of macaroni" the first "official' mention of pasta: a notary's inventoryof an inheritance speaks of a "bariscela (basket) full of macaronis".
A document from 1244 from 1316 testify to the production of dried pasta in Liguria as well.
Between 1400 and 1500. the production by craftsmen of "fidei" (pasta makers in dialect) became quite widespread in Liguria, as demonstrated by the founding of the Corporation of Pasta-Makers in Genoa. Three years later, "The Regolazione dell'Arte dei Maestri Fidelari" (Rules for the Pasta-Master's Art Corporation) were drawn in Savona.
The 17th century: a mechanical press
In Naples, population growth was aggravating the problems of food accessibility, until a small technological revolution (the spread of the kneading machine and the invetion of the mechanical press) made it possible to produce pasta at a much lower price. Pasta thus became the food of the people. Naples vicinity to the sea (as was the case of Liguria and Sicily) facilitated drying, a process which allowed pasta to be conserved for an extended period of time.
The 18 century: how pasta was made?
In Naples, pasta was made by mixing semolina dough by foot.The pasta maker sat on a long bench and used his feet to mix and knead the dough. The king of Naples, Ferdinando II, was not happy with this method of pasta-making and hired a famous enginner (Cesare Spadaccini) to improve the procedure.
The new system consisted of adding boiling water to freshly grounded flour, and kneading by foot was replaced by a machine made of bronze that perfectly imitated the work done by man. Another person not happy was his Queen, but for a different reason. The Queen was so embarassed by the way the King ate his macceroni. (he dipped his fingers directly into the maccheroni and sauce), so she also went to Cesare Spadaccini for help. He come to the rescue by inventing the four-pronged fork.
In 1740, the city of Venice issued Paolo Adami a licence to open the first pasta factory. The machinery was simple enough. It consisted of an iron press, powered by several young boys. In 1763, the Duke of Parma, Don Ferdinando of Bourbon, gave Stefano Lucciardi of Sarzana the right to a 10 year-monopoly for the production of dried pasta.
1800: tomatoes are here
At the start of the 1800's pasta met tomato. Until then, it had been eaten without seasoning or with cheese. The first mention of using tomato dated back to the 17th century. It was imported into Spain by the conquistadors of the New World, and later spread to the rest of Europe, finding an ideal climate for cultivation in the mediterranean countries.
But tomato didn't become a common ingredient in Italian cooking until the end of 1800's century. At first, the tomato was considered an ornamental plant, and according to a legend that took same time to die off, actually was considered poisonous. It wasn't until 1778 that Vincenzo Corrado in his "Cuoco Galante" (The Gentlemen Chef) mentioned a tomato sauce, but without the idea yet of using it to season pasta. in any case, Italy deserves all the credit for "launching" the tomato. Tomato sauce, boiled in a pot with a pinch of salt and a few basil leaves, was used beginning in the early 1800's by open-air vendors (called "Maccheronari", maccheroni vendors) in the south for seasoning macaroni. And pizza which dates back to the cradle of civilazation-began to be seasoned with tomato sauce and mozzarella only in the mid 1850
Naples, capital of pasta
Several pasta makers from Amalfi opened a true industry of pasta at Torre Annunziata. It used water mills and grinding stones, and the semolina was separeted from the bran using hand-held sieves. Machines brought with them market develepopment, competition and exportation across the ocean. In 1878, a machine destined to incomparably improve semolina and therefore pasta, was introduced "theMarseillais purifier" The perforated leather which had been used in manual sieves was applieed to mechanical shakers. The first hydraulic press was made in 1882 and the first steam-powered mill was used in 1884.
In 1877 Pietro Barilla opened a bread and pasta shop in Parma. Using a wooden press, he was producing 50 kg. of pasta a day.
The 19th century: new shapes abound
Die makers, capable of crafting absolutely perfect holes in the bronze disk that closed the pasta press,
realized that they could shape up the market by changing the dies and inventing new imaginative
shapes. Back then a pasta factory offered an assortment that ranged from 150 to 200 different shapes.
1904-1914:
The decades of technology Artificial drying in air conditioned enviroments made pasta available in all the regions of Italy. The wheat most beloved by pasta makers was the Taganrog variety, the unsurpassed durum wheat imported from Russia. The port of Tagarog, in Crimea, shipped off wheat that the Ligurian and the Neapolitan pasta mekers preferred.
The great development of Italian pasta at the turn of the century was also tied to exportation, which in 1913 touched 70,000 tons, most of which was directd towards USA.
The technological revolution:
In 1933, with the invention of the continuos mechanical press, the Braibante brothers of Parma eliminated the down-time between the operations of mixing, kneading and pressing pasta, thus improving the quality and hygiene of the product as well.
The semolina went into one end of the machine and the shaped pasta come out the other end, ready to be dried.
At the end of the seventies, the benefits of the "Meditteranean Diet" were first mentioned. The government of United States, to fight the so-called "diseases of civilizationed", commissioned research into eating habits, which discovered, that countries closed to their dietary goals was Italy, thank to Italians wide-scale consumption of Cereals and olive oil. And so began the success of Italian Food.
The American Department of Agriculture used the symbol of a pyramid to illustrate the requirements of a healty, correct style of eating, full reflecting the characteristics of the Mediterranean diet. Cereals were located at the very base of the pyramid.
Recipes:
Making Fresh Pasta:
Ingredients (will make about one pound of pasta for about 4-5 sevings)
2 cups unbleached flour, 2 extra large eggs, 1 teaspoon of olive oil, a pinch of salt If doing by hand: Make a well with the flour and in the center break the eggs, add the olive oil and the salt. Begin by mixing the ingredients with the tips of your fingers and when all the ingredients have been absorbed, start to knead the dough ( the size of the eggs will determine the moisture of the dough so, if it is to dry, add a few drop of waters at the time and if it is too wet, add a little of flour). Knead the dough untill it has a smooth texture. The dough is now ready.
If doing with a food processor: Using the plastic blade (the dough blade) put all the ingrediets in the bowl and process untill the mixture becomes a single ball (use the same criteria as above if the dough is too dry or too wet). When you have a single ball in the mixer bowl, take it out and knead it for a minute. The dough is ready to be shaped.
If you have a pasta machine, take a piece of the dough and pass it through the rolls of the pasta machine, starting from the high number on the dial and working down to the number 3.
For each pass of the dough, lower one number on the dial (make sure that for each pass you sprinkle some flour on the dough to avoid it sticking to the rolls). Now you have a sheet of pasta that you can pass through the cutter's rolls to your desired shape.
If you don't have a pasta machine, take a small piece of the dough and stretch it with a rolling pin and when it is really thin, start from one end and roll it on itself untill you have a cylinder shaped piece of dough to work with. With a sharp knife, start from one end of the roll and cut strips (very small strips will make angel air, a bit wider will make spaghetti and a little wider will make fettuccine). Unroll the strips and sprinkle flour on them to keep them loose. Repeat the process untill all the dough is used.
Cook the pasta in boiling salted water for about 2/3 minutes depending of the cuts that you made.
Spaghetti alla Pugliese
Ingredients: (fo 2 people)
6/7 oz of Spaghetti (fresh or dried), 1 peelled Italian sausage, 6 oz of Broccoli florets, 1 Garlic cloves, 2 oz grated Pecorino cheese or Parmigiano cheese, 4 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper according to your taste
Cook the broccoli in boiling water untill tender, then chop them. Heat the oil and and cook the garlic and the choppd Italian sausage. When the Italian sausage is browned add the Broccoli and salt and pepper. Cook the pasta and add a little bit of the pasta water to the sausage and broccoli mixture. When the pasta is cooked put in a large bowl, add the sauce and the cheese, mix well and serve.
