Pasta - tubular products made from durum wheat flour, completely dried dough. Other similar products, such as spaghetti or noodles, are also produced in the same way. Now absolutely everyone knows about these widespread ingredients. And what was in antiquity, before a variety of culinary masterpieces and intricate dishes appeared? Who really invented pasta and in which country?
The very first mention of pasta
The history of pasta is actually incredibly confusing. The same can be said about the country in which pasta was invented. Some sources claim that they appeared in ancient Greece and were once created by God himself, although this, of course, is a legend.
Creating pasta dates back to very old times. They appeared even earlier than Chinese noodles, by about five hundred years. It was believed that pasta was created in Etruscan times, but the evidence for this is not strong enough. Archaeologists have founda needle similar to a sewing needle. It was soon decided that this tool was used to wrap the dough from which the pasta itself is made.
There is a popular belief that pasta was popular in the 4th century BC with the Egyptians. During excavations in the tombs, drawings were found that depicted something similar to cooking a kind of noodles. The Egyptians also often "took" noodles with them to the world of the dead.
But the very first written mention of pasta appeared in the cookbook of Apicus, a famous Roman culinary specialist back in the 1st century. In this book, the first recipes for lasagna were presented. Apicus in his work writes about the preparation of minced meat, which is laid out in the layers of this dish. Pasta in the form of lasagna was common in ancient Greece and in ancient Rome. And vermicelli appeared in medieval Italy a little later.
History
It is not known who invented pasta, and the name of the person who first proposed it. But they have a rich and interesting history.
In the 10th century, the Italian chef Martin Corno wrote a book called The Culinary Art of Sicilian Pasta. Dough prepared in this way is called pasta in Italian, but in those years the word pasta was the name of all food in general.
A document from 1244 named the products that were subject to the ban. This list included the so-called pasta lissa - soft wheat pasta. By the 12th century, even legislators monitored the quality of the product - thisproves the importance of these products in people's lives.
Strips of a kind of dried text appeared quite often until the 13th century. Pasta from them often appeared on the tables of Sicily. Sun-dried dough dishes were cooked with various delicious additions.
There is an opinion that pasta first appeared in China, and only in 1292 Marco Polo, an Italian traveler, brought them to Italy. But when he discovered pasta in China, he only implied that the Chinese make the same pasta as they do in Italy.
Medical records of the emperor's medicines written by Xiao Gong were found in China. In them, he wrote various recipes and recommendations for their use. In one of the entries, one could find advice on eating hot buckwheat noodles. It was believed that it eliminates harmful energy and various diseases. And from excess weight and to preserve the youth of the body, the doctor advised eating rice and wheat noodles as often as possible.
And in 2005, archaeologists discovered ancient pottery along the Yellow River. On one of the vessels they found very old noodles, the age of which was considered to be four thousand years. This once again proves that in ancient times in Asian countries they also used pasta, otherwise - rice pasta. Who came up with them? This means that the first such pasta began to be eaten right here, in China. Although, of course, this does not exclude the fact that various pasta products were also consumed in ancient Italy.
Italy and China
So who invented pasta and where? There is no doubt that both Italy and China have been familiar with these products since ancient times. More surprising is that other countries did not even know about such products. The simplest cakes were popular all over the world. However, lasagna is considered almost the progenitor of all pasta and is the same flatbread. This clears things up a bit. It turns out that noodles and pasta are just logical derivatives of lasagna. However, this is not an indisputable fact. Therefore, there is no exact answer to the question of which country invented pasta.
Ravioli, tortellini and dumplings
In the middle of the 13th century, peculiar stuffed pasta appeared in Italian cuisine, called ravioli and tortellini. The filler they have is completely different, but mostly it is meat, cheese or spinach. Soon, derivatives of Italian pasta with filling appeared all over the world, otherwise - familiar to us, Russians, dumplings. In China, won tones were later made, in Tibet - mo-mo, and among the Jews - kreplach. No wonder it is believed that many forms of pasta come from the Middle East.
Who invented instant pasta?
Now noodles are widely known all over the world, which can be cooked in just five minutes. All you need to do is empty the contents of the sachet and fill it with water. Quite often, other dishes are made with such noodles. As you know, the semi-finished product was invented by Momofuku Ando. Now you know the name of the person who invented quick pasta.cooking. Today they are indispensable for too busy people with limited time.
Who Invented Naval Pasta?
Navy-style pasta served mainly as food for sailors and various travelers in the Middle Ages. Now it is considered a classic Soviet recipe. It became especially widely known after the end of the Second World War and is boiled pasta mixed with fried minced meat or stew.
Interesting pasta facts
- There are about 600 different types of pasta around the world.
- In Italy, pasta is known as pasta. Although earlier this word was used here to call all food in principle.
- And in 1819, the very first machine for drying pasta and spaghetti was created - of course, in Italy.
- In the same country there is an amazing genre of cinema called spaghetti western. It was born in the 20th century and was especially popular in the 60s and 70s. During all this time, about 600 films were shot, and the shooting took place mainly in the southern deserts of Spain - it was there that the similarity of the views of the American wild West could be achieved.
- Rossini, the famous Italian composer, claimed to have only cried twice in his entire life. The first time he did this was when he heard the amazing performance of Paganini. And the second time, he grieved over a pasta dish he made himself, which he carelessly dropped.
- A driver who ate pasta while driving was sentenced to eight weeks in the Netherlands.
- Italians use only durum wheat for the now popular products, while China uses rice flour.
Pasta and their national characteristics in different countries
We still don't know who invented pasta and where, and the name of the person who made it. But all over the world there are various products and dishes that are prepared from them.
Of course, pasta is associated mainly with Italy: after all, according to many, spaghetti was invented there. But few people know that all over the world also have their own traditional pasta.
European cuisine is characterized by various products mainly from durum wheat. The sizes and shapes of pasta are striking in their diversity: here they are made completely different.
In Italy, pasta is known for its rich history: quite often pasta and spaghetti are almost a symbol of Italian cuisine. There are several categories here: small pasta for soup, pasta for baking, such as lasagna, and pasta with some kind of filling inside (ravioli, which we talked about earlier).
In Russia, we are used to seeing pasta of various shapes, which is mainly cooked as a side dish for the main course. Pasta here is divided into different categories, depending on the quality of the raw materials used to produce pasta. We produce vermicelli, horns and various curly pasta.
In Central Asia there is a popular andan integral dish of Central Asian cuisine, called lagman. The basis of this dish is long pasta, which has an interesting name - chuzma.
Oriental cuisine is often associated with rice - after all, rice is the main and most popular cereal there. Consequently, pasta here is not made from wheat flour at all, but from rice flour. These products are cooked much longer, and outwardly they are very different from what we are used to: they are white or transparent and thinner. An example of such pasta is Chinese noodles or funchose.
In Japan, these products are also prepared from very unusual raw materials - bean starch. Such products in the Land of the Rising Sun are usually called saifun. And an interesting national dish in Tunisia is Nuasyr noodles, made from semolina flour. As a rule, it is served with lamb or chicken.
Pasta names around the world
In Italy pasta is called spaghetti - spaghetti. The word is derived from the simple spago, which translates as "thread".
Abars and Indians began to use pasta after China and Italy. The former called them rishta, and the latter called sevika. Both words are also translated into Russian as "thread".
Despite the fact that pasta was quite diverse, in Italy they came up with one common name that we are already used to - macaroni.
