From mung beans and other grains.

Usually pasta is produced by the food industry and stored dry. They are boiled before use. Sometimes other ingredients are added to the dough during their manufacture, for example: dyes (tomato paste, spinach, beets, a pigment secreted from cuttlefish (cuttlefish ink) and others), eggs, greens.

Often the term "pasta" refers only to dried dough products - semi-finished products. However, some dough products, which are then boiled in boiling water, are prepared not only from dry, but also from freshly prepared dough (for example: noodles, gnocchi, beshbarmak). There is no exact, unambiguous and generally accepted classification of pasta from dough.

In Italian, pasta and some other flour products are called paste(Italian Pasta, apparently from Late Latin Latin pasta - “dough”) - a homogeneous mushy mass, but in Russian this word has a different meaning.

Classification of pasta

The raw materials used affect, in accordance with Russian standards, the division of pasta into groups A, B, C (depending on the type of wheat) and the highest, first and second grade (depending on the type of flour):

  • group A: made from durum wheat flour (durum) of the highest, first and second grade.
  • group B: made from soft vitreous wheat flour of the highest and first grade.
  • group B: made from wheat baking flour of the highest and first grade.

Durum wheats have a higher gluten content and lower starch content than soft wheats. Pasta made from them has a lower glycemic index.

In some countries (for example, in Italy), pasta is allowed to be made only from durum wheat (similar to group A in Russia).

By way cooking Distinguish between fresh, usually egg, and dry products.

By degree readiness pasta can vary depending on its type and local traditions. In Italy, the standard is cooking to the degree of al dente (“on the tooth”, that is, the very middle of the product remains slightly undercooked and hard. In some countries, including Russia, products prepared in this way may be considered undercooked).

A large and perhaps the most common group of pasta - whole(spaghetti) or tubular(pasta) products, at least 15 cm long, with a very small, usually 1-2 mm, diameter of the product (or the thickness of its walls, if tubular).

in Italy Various types pasta products are named according to their shape and size.

The ending in the title indicates product size:

  • oni- large
  • ette or etti- small
  • ini- small.

Groups of pasta by shape

By form pasta is divided into six groups:

long pasta

  • Bavette(Italian Bavette) - similar to flattened spaghetti - originally from Liguria.
  • capellini(Italian Capellini; from Italian capello - hair) - the name comes from the north of Central Italy, translated from Italian as "hairs", "thin hair" (1.2 mm - 1.4 mm). It is also sometimes called: "Angel's hair" (Capelli d'angelo) or "Hair of Venus" (Capelvenere).
  • Vermicelli(ital. "Vermicelli; from Italian. verme - worm) - long, rounded and rather thin (1.4 mm - 1.8 mm).
  • Spaghetti(Italian Spaghetti; from Italian spaghe - string) - long, rounded and rather thin (1.8 mm - 2.0 mm). They were originally 50 cm long. Now, for convenience, this has been reduced to about 25 cm, but you can also find long spaghetti (Manufacturers usually put them in the “special format” section).
  • Spaghettini- thinner than spaghetti.
  • spaghettoni- thicker than spaghetti.
  • Maccheroncini(ital. Maccheroncini) - are somewhere between spaghetti and bavette.
  • Bucatini(Italian Bucatini).
  • Tagliatelle(ital. Tagliatelle) - thin and flat strips of egg dough about 5 mm wide. Differing from fettuccine, mainly only in a smaller width (the difference is at least 2 mm).
  • Fettuccine(Italian Fettuccine) - thin flat strips of dough about 7 mm wide.
  • Mafaldin(Italian Mafaldine) - a long ribbon with wavy edges. Mafaldine were invented in Naples and were once called "Rich Fettuccine". The Neapolitans invented them specifically for Princess Mafalda of Savoy and subsequently christened them "Reginette" (Reginette - princess, literally translated) or "Mafaldina" in her honor.
  • Linguine(Italian linguine) - long, thin strips of noodles.
  • Pappardelle(Italian: pappardelle) - 13 mm wide flat noodle ribbons, originally from Tuscany.

short pasta

  • Fusilli - fusilli- Native to northern Italy. The name comes from the word "fuso", from the Italian "spindle", with which wool was spun. The shape of the Fusilli resembles three blades fastened together and twisted in a spiral.
  • Girandole - girandolé- are considered the younger sisters of the Fusilli. Girandole got its name for its resemblance to a children's toy - a multi-colored spinner. They are shorter and take less time to cook.
  • Penne - penne- Rigate (ribbed), Lisce (smooth), Piccole (small) - all Penne have a characteristic dynamic shape of a hollow tube with oblique cuts, in the manner of a sharpened old pen, in comparison with the usual straight classic pasta.
  • pipe rigate - pipe rigate. Some believe that this format of pasta belongs to the Roman gastronomic culture, while others suggest that it first appeared in north-central Italy. People call them snails. They resemble tubules in shape, twisted in a semicircle so that the sauce is kept inside.
  • Tortiglioni - tortiglioni- one of the first forms of pasta invented in Naples - short tubules with a characteristic pattern, from which they got their name - "tortiglione" - spiraling grooves that remain after processing on a lathe.
  • Maccheroni - maccheroni- small thin tubes, slightly bent.
  • Cellentani - cellentani- spiral tubes.

pasta for baking

  • cannelloni - cannelloni- tubes with a diameter of up to 30 mm and a length of up to 100 mm, one of the first types of pasta invented by people. Since ancient times, they have been prepared from dough mixed with water from ground grains and salt, then the dough was rolled out and cut into rectangles, on which the filling was placed, rolled into a tube and then boiled.
  • Lasagne - lasagna- Rectangular baking sheets. Lasagna sheets are alternated with the filling and baked in the oven for about 20 minutes. Unlike other types of dough, it does not need to be pre-boiled.

Small pasta for soups

  • Anelli - anelli- miniature rings for soups.
  • Stelline - stelline- stars.
  • Orecchiete- small items in the form of ears.
  • filini- thin short threads.

Curly pasta

  • Farfalle - farfalle- butterflies.
  • Farfallette or Farfallini- smaller butterflies.
  • Conchiglie - conchile - Shells- products in the form of shells; suitable for filling. There are smooth (lisce) and corrugated (rigate).
  • conciliette- smaller shells.
  • Conchiglioni - conchiglioni(large shells).
  • Gemelli- thin spirals or bundles with hollow ends.
  • Caserecce- horns.
  • Campanelle- bells with a wavy edge.

Every day we enjoy a wide variety of dishes and do not even think that these dishes came to us from distant foreign countries. And all because some foods have already become native to us. This also applies to spaghetti - a primordially Italian dish that has long migrated to other countries. That is why we decided to look a little more into the past of pastry dough.

The homeland of this pasta is considered a small Italian town of Genoa. Next to it is another place - Pontedassio. It was there that one of the most original museums in the world settled - the Spaghetti Museum, which contains 176 recipes for cooking pasta, as well as sauces and seasonings for them. A historical document is also kept there, which notarizes the existence of a dough product called “macaronis”. The act is dated February 4, 1279.

The city where the pasta festival is celebrated is also considered Gragnano which is near Naples. Every year, it is there that the celebration of long pasta is held, and residents and guests of the town dress in medieval costumes and walk around the streets like that. At every step you can try the most different types spaghetti, sauces, seasonings and learn the secrets of cooking your favorite dish. Local television even plays films and cartoons with all kinds of pasta participation. This is because today a tenth of all Italian pasta factories are concentrated in this city.

It is known that in Italy itself there is an incredible number of names for these same spaghetti. If you open a cookbook in any corner of the country, you can count more than a dozen items of simple pasta there. Despite this, the residents themselves prefer not to delve into all these terms. Gourmets know exactly what kind of spaghetti they like and how to cook them, and everything else is not so important.

The leading place in the recipe for spaghetti is occupied by sauce. Not a single Italian would agree to eat pasta without an important ingredient, because it will no longer be pasta, but simply dough with water. There are over 10,000 varieties of gravies and sauces. Next to spaghetti, even a sea shell can flaunt, which supposedly gives taste and aroma to your favorite dish. In Italy itself, it is believed that if a person knows a lot about sauces and other additions to pasta, he knows a lot about absolutely everything. The inhabitants of the country literally bow to these gurus and fall silent when it comes to seasonings.

Spaghetti recipes may vary by region of the country. Since almost all regions of Italy face the sea, many sauces contain elements of seafood. In the case of land areas, meat recipes are especially popular there. But Sicily and Sardinia can easily boast of an incredible amount of spaghetti-based fish dishes. In local restaurants, cuttlefish, squid, crabs, lobsters "swim" in a plate of pasta...

An incredible number of stories and legends are associated with spaghetti in Italy. For example, it is known that Cindy Crawford, after the birth of her first child, asked to bring her spaghetti with garlic - a dish that the model dreamed of all nine months of pregnancy. Formula 1 drivers gorge themselves on their favorite pasta before races, and Italian football players regularly dine on pasta, believing it will bring them good luck at the match. There is also a legend that a Neapolitan returned to prison after his release because the spaghetti was better cooked there than at home.

There is an opinion that it is impossible to get better from real Italian spaghetti, because they are made from durum wheat. On this occasion, a lot of disagreements flare up to this day, since the result is quite controversial. Some scientists say that a person does not gain weight because of their individual characteristics, and not because pasta is made from supposedly "diet" wheat. Despite this, in Italy it is believed that if a man is not able to eat a large plate of spaghetti, he is not capable of anything, especially in "bed" matters.

According to statistics that reflect the latest demographic situation on the Apennine Peninsula, Italians live quite a long time - women on average up to 82 years, and men - up to 75-76. This phenomenon can be explained by many factors, but spaghetti and pasta should not be excluded from them at all. After all, maybe this is the reason for the longevity of sultry Italians!

Who has never eaten pasta? You probably won't find such a person anywhere. After all, under the name “pasta” a huge assortment of dough products has been collected - these are ordinary vermicelli and horns, and long spaghetti, and pasta sheets for lasagna, etc. With this product, there are already a huge number of recipes that can be prepared quickly and easily. But few people know how and when pasta appeared, as well as where they come from. In fact, the history of the origin of pasta is fascinating not only thanks to interesting facts but also the myths and legends that surround them..

History of the origin of pasta - where did pasta come from

Most, of course, will say that pasta is a traditional dish Italian cuisine, and they will be right in some way ... After all, it was Italian merchants who spread pasta everywhere in Europe, filling the holds of their ships with pasta for long voyages many thousands of kilometers from their homeland.

It was the people from Genoa who first brought pasta to Russia, and this happened during the time of Peter the Great. The well-known reformer and admirer of everything European often invited foreign masters to his place, one of whom was an Italian shipbuilder and brought a certain amount of pasta as a gift to the royal court. The dish was liked, it quickly took root among the people. But the industrial production of pasta in our country began with a factory in the city of Odessa. It is noteworthy that it was not the Russians and not the Italians who opened it, but the French.

There is an opinion that pasta is a dish of Greek origin, because literally “pasta” from ancient Greek is translated as “food made from flour”. But, apart from this fact, the existence of pasta in ancient Greece is practically not confirmed by anything.

In the Roman Empire, during the reign of Emperor Tiberius, around 600 AD, the first cookbooks appeared. And they had recipes for pasta dishes that were only slightly different from modern ones! However, this is our era. And the history of pasta is much older.

During the excavation of the ancient pyramids in Egypt, a large number of images of people engaged in the preparation of noodles were found. Moreover, the technology was not very different from the current one - the dough was rolled out, cut into pieces and dried. Whether pasta was imported from outside or they were invented on the spot is still unknown to science.

But still, the most ancient references to pasta belong to the Chinese. During the excavations of ancient cities dating back to about 4000 BC, the remains of dishes with petrified noodles were found! Also in China, a huge number of references to pasta in folklore - fairy tales, myths, legends. Beliefs and folk superstitions are associated with pasta. It turns out that China is the birthplace of everyone's favorite pastry products, and not Italy at all.

To date, there are a huge number of facts about pasta. We have prepared the most interesting ones for you.

  • In Italy pasta is called "pasta";
  • Around the world there are about 600 types of pasta;
  • Italians use durum wheat to make pasta;
  • In 1819, the first spaghetti drying machine was invented in Italy;
  • Composer Rossini once wrote that he cried only 2 times in his life. The first time, when I heard Paganini play, and the second time, when I dropped a pasta dish that he made himself;
  • Dutch driver was sentenced to 8 weeks in jail for eating pasta while driving;
  • In Italy, there is such a genre of film as spaghetti western. About 600 films were made in this genre in the 60s.

Sauces for pasta

Now we eat pasta with meat, vegetables, milk, various seasonings, etc. But according to tradition, pasta is usually eaten with sauce. And for this you need to cook them yourself from fresh products.

  • Bolognese: chopped meat, tomatoes, red wine and greens;
  • Barbonara: bacon, cream and Parmesan cheese;
  • Norm: pork fat, onions and tomatoes;
  • Napoletana: tomatoes, fresh vegetables and herbs.

Although each country has its own pasta ... It combines their excellent taste, ease of preparation and popularity, which peaked in the 20th century. With the development of the industrial world, plants and factories began to produce much more pasta, and they actually flooded the world. Such is the history of pasta.

There are legends about history of pasta to the time of the ancient Romans, who attributed their creation to the gods. And ancient sources claim that they came up with pasta in China and Marco Polo brought them to Italy in 1292 AD. However, when Marco said that he "discovered" pasta in China, it was implied that he had discovered something new, when in fact he discovered that the Chinese had pasta "just like ours".

Origin of pasta attributed to Etruscan times, which turns out to be 500 years earlier than Chinese noodles. However, the evidence for this is not convincing enough. In one of the Etruscan tombs, tools similar to a sewing needle were found - they were mistaken for tools for wrapping dough for pasta. But perhaps they were for something else. We got the first written mention from the Apicus cookbook, which included recipes for lasagna, and by the 12th century pasta have become an important enough food item to attract the attention of food quality legislators.

That from the very beginning both Italy and China were familiar with pasta there is nothing surprising. It is only surprising that they were not in all other countries of the world, especially in those where flat cakes were popular. lasagna- the progenitor of almost all forms of pasta - is nothing more than another flat bread, a flatbread that is boiled rather than baked. That's why noodles or tagliatelle were a perfectly logical derivative of lasagna.

Indians and Arabs used pasta since at least 1200 AD, and possibly earlier. The Indians called them sevika, which meant "thread", and the Arabs called them rishta, which also meant "thread" in Persian. The Italians, in turn, chose the word spaghetti, derived from the word spago - "thread".

small italian pasta stuffed, ravioli and tortellini (both appeared from the middle of the 13th century), also had parallels everywhere. In China there were won tones, in Russia - dumplings, in Tibet - mo-mo, and in Jewish cuisine - kreplach. Some forms of pasta are thought to have originated in the Middle East.

Despite such a variety of pasta, later in medieval Italy, the name macaroni was assigned to them. In the 14th century, the English cookbook Forme of Cury gives a recipe for macrows. The result is flat pasta, who advise serving exquisitely with a small piece of butter and grated cheese as a side dish. But at home, pasta was not treated at that time as a food of the upper strata of society.

It is believed that the word "maccheroni" is derived from the Sicilian dialect - "maccarruni" means "processed dough" (from the Italian word "macare", which means "knead, knead"). Dried dough in the form of threads ("tria" in Arabic language) were the food of caravans during the period of Islamic expansion at the end of the first millennium AD.

Types of pasta, similar to modern noodles, were known in Ancient Greece, but this can be argued based only on indirect signs - the finds by archaeologists of tools used to making pasta, such as rolling pins, dough knives, etc. In ancient Greek mythology, it is said that the god Vulcan invented a machine that made long and thin threads from the test - prototype spaghetti.

The history of the origin of pasta: the facts

Facts from the history of the origin of pasta appear in the era sea ​​voyages. The need to dry pasta, which can be eaten fresh as it has been eaten for centuries, came with the increase in trade and shipping that followed the rise of the Maritime Republics of Venice, Genoa, Pisa and Amalfi. Food was needed, which could be stored on the ship for long voyages. Sailors from Amalfi, on their frequent visits to Sicily, adopted the art of drying pasta and spread it to the area around the Gulf of Naples.

In the old Neapolitan factories, which were created both in the city and along the coast, pasta dough kneaded with their feet, then squeezed by a long wooden pole, on which three or four workers sat, pressing with their weight. The work was carried out in the rhythm of the songs: the workers got up and sat down until the dough became homogeneous and could pass into wooden presses. Through bronze matrices various kinds"fidelini", "vermicelli", "trenette", "lasagnette" and a large selection of short pasta were produced: "butterflies", "feathers", "shells", "spirals" - first they were cut manually, then automatically, with a machine blade. Meanwhile, how short pasta fell into large boxes, long pasta, dried with large fans, was placed on long sticks, carried outside and hung on special hangers. The Mediterranean wind that dries the pasta gives it a special flavor and aroma.

So dry pasta, one of the first industrially produced foodstuffs, has come a long way to ever more intensive processing cycles thanks to its full-cycle processing equipment (from dough kneading to finished dried products).

Pasta, however, did not have an important role in food even among the inhabitants of Naples until at least the 16th century. They were used most often as a sumptuous dessert because the special wheat needed for pasta production must have been imported from the areas of Sicily and, consequently, pasta was expensive and consumed only by the wealthy classes. By the way, it is to pasta that we owe the invention of a modern fork with several prongs - for ease of eating spaghetti.

Until the 17th century, the food of the poor people was mainly vegetables - the Neapolitans were even teased as "lettuce eaters". In the 17th century, changes began to occur, the result of which was the predominance of pasta in daily diet population of southern Italy for the following reasons:

  • firstly, the decrease in purchasing power due to the economic crisis;
  • secondly, the advent of machines for making pasta. The machines allowed for large factory production, and volumes incomparable with the possibilities of "manual" production of fresh pasta;
  • third, the concentration of cultivation, production and storage of special wheat used for the production of pasta.

These reasons led to a decrease in the cost of pasta and its distribution as a food product for the masses.

Macaroni in England

By 1770 the word pasta in england had special meaning signifying perfection and elegance. The slang expression "that's pasta" was used to describe anything exceptionally good.

By the way, we owe pasta to the emergence of the tradition of pranks and jokes on April 1st - many people call the classic Prank of the Century launched on April 1, 1957 by the BBC television company a message about an unprecedented pasta harvest in Switzerland. Against the background of shots demonstrating the work of peasants gathering boiled pasta, the announcer's voice told the audience about the main achievement in this area Agriculture- the same length of all pasta, which is the result of the experiments of many generations of breeders. The editors received a lot of letters - responses: someone was surprised that pasta grows vertically and not horizontally, someone asked to send seedlings and only a few expressed slight confusion - after all, until now they were sure that pasta are made from flour.

Pasta in Russia

Russian pasta known not so long ago - just a little over 200 years. It is known that Peter I recruited craftsmen abroad for the construction of ships. One of them, named Fernando, came from Italy. The Italian, himself a pasta lover, passed on the secret of their preparation to a Russian entrepreneur for whom he worked. The latter appreciated the benefits of a new product (pasta cost five to six times more expensive than the best flour) and set up their home production. The owner, of course, put money in his pocket, and gave the Italian only the glory of "pasta". But Fernando took revenge on the owner and sold the secret to more generous entrepreneurs.

The first pasta factory in Russia opened at the end of the 18th century - 30 years after the Frenchman Malouin first described the technique for making this food product in 1767 - and of course, in Odessa! Pasta was made here. the best varieties wheat flour, technology has a large share manual labor. In 1913, there were already 39 pasta enterprises in Russia, producing about 30 thousand tons of products per year.

According to histpro.narod.ru and kuking.net

pasta packaging raw material labeling

Pasta (maccheroni) - products made from durum wheat flour, sometimes with the addition of eggs, shaped like tubes. Cord-shaped products are called "spaghetti" or "vermicelli" - depending on their length, that is, translated from Italian - "ropes" or "worms". Only the thinnest tubes are called macaroni in Italy. Thicker tubes are called "mezzacita", and the thickest pasta is called "cita".

Pasta has been known to Russia not so long ago - just a little over 200 years. It is known that Peter I recruited craftsmen abroad for the construction of ships. One of them, named Fernando, came from Italy. The Italian, himself a pasta lover, passed on the secret of their preparation to a Russian entrepreneur for whom he worked. The latter appreciated the benefits of the new product (pasta cost five to six times more than the best flour) and set up their home production. The owner, of course, put money in his pocket, and gave the Italian only the glory of "pasta". But Fernando took revenge on the owner and sold the secret to more generous entrepreneurs.

The year of origin of the pasta industry in Russia is considered to be 1797, when the first pasta factory was opened in Odessa.

Here, pasta was made from the best varieties of wheat flour; a large share of manual labor was incorporated in the technology. In 1913, there were already 39 pasta enterprises in Russia, producing about 30 thousand tons of products per year. Technological process has been significantly improved. Wholemeal flour was poured into the kneaders of dough mixers, filled with water and mixed. The resulting lumpy dough on the dough rolls was turned into a bound mass, which was rolled into a tape on rollers. In the manufacture of pasta or noodles, the tape was rolled into a roll weighing 30-50 kilograms, laid in a press cylinder. Noodles were usually obtained by cutting the tape on special machines - noodle cutters. Strands of products were cut with a knife, hung on poles or laid out on frames and dried in chamber dryers with steam or heat heating. In the southern cities, the so-called Neapolitan method of drying was used: for the day, pasta was taken out into the air, and at night it was cleaned in the basement. During the day, the products dried up, and at night they dampened. With such a long (about a week) drying method, the products acquired strength, a special taste and aroma.

And today the pasta industry continues to develop at an accelerated pace.

At the present time, significant qualitative changes have taken place in the macarindustrial industry. Most of the pharmacists have acquired the latest technology, use the latest technology and are able to develop quality products that meet the requirements of the world's first standards.


close