Pasta Is Not Originally from Italy
By Julia - MisconceptionJunction.com - June 3, 2011
Myth: Pasta originally comes from Italy.
Worldwide, pasta has become synonymous with Italian cuisine. Italian immigrants themselves brought pasta everywhere they went. While it is true that the most famous varieties and recipes of cooking pasta really do come from Italy, surprisingly, the actual origin of pasta lies elsewhere!
So how did pasta make its way to Italy? One of the more popular theories was published in the ‘Macaroni Journal’ by the Association of Food Industries. It states that pasta was brought to Italy by Marco Polo via China. Polo ventured to China in the time of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and the Chinese had been consuming noodles as early as 3000 B.C. in the Qinghai province. There is even some evidence there of 4,000-year-old noodles made from foxtail and broomcorn millet.
Unfortunately, there are problems with this theory, least of which is that the noodles they were making in China aren’t technically considered pasta. Polo also described Chinese noodles as being like “lagana”, which implies he was possibly already familiar with a pasta-like food before going to China. Further, in 1279, there was a Genoese soldier that listed in the inventory of his estate a basket of dried pasta. Polo didn’t come back from China until 1295. For those who don’t know, Genoa is a sea port in Italy. Further, the modern pasta like we know it was first described in 1154 by an Arab geographer, Idrisi, as being common in Sicily. So Marco Polo could not have brought pasta to Italy via China. It was already in Italy at that time.
So how did it get there? Most food historians believe that Arabs (specifically from Libya) are to be credited for bringing pasta, along with spinach, eggplant and sugar cane, to the Mediterranean basin. In the Talmud, written in Aramaic in the 5th century AD, there is a reference to pasta being cooked by boiling. It is thought, then, that pasta was introduced to Italy during the Arab conquests of Sicily in the 9th century AD, which had the interesting side effect of drastically influencing the region’s cuisine. It also known that by the 12th century, the Italians had learned from the Arabs methods for drying pasta to preserve it while traveling. Further support for this theory can be found by the fact that, in many old Sicilian pasta recipes, there are Arab gastronomic introductions.
By Julia - MisconceptionJunction.com - June 3, 2011
Myth: Pasta originally comes from Italy.
Worldwide, pasta has become synonymous with Italian cuisine. Italian immigrants themselves brought pasta everywhere they went. While it is true that the most famous varieties and recipes of cooking pasta really do come from Italy, surprisingly, the actual origin of pasta lies elsewhere!
So how did pasta make its way to Italy? One of the more popular theories was published in the ‘Macaroni Journal’ by the Association of Food Industries. It states that pasta was brought to Italy by Marco Polo via China. Polo ventured to China in the time of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and the Chinese had been consuming noodles as early as 3000 B.C. in the Qinghai province. There is even some evidence there of 4,000-year-old noodles made from foxtail and broomcorn millet.
Unfortunately, there are problems with this theory, least of which is that the noodles they were making in China aren’t technically considered pasta. Polo also described Chinese noodles as being like “lagana”, which implies he was possibly already familiar with a pasta-like food before going to China. Further, in 1279, there was a Genoese soldier that listed in the inventory of his estate a basket of dried pasta. Polo didn’t come back from China until 1295. For those who don’t know, Genoa is a sea port in Italy. Further, the modern pasta like we know it was first described in 1154 by an Arab geographer, Idrisi, as being common in Sicily. So Marco Polo could not have brought pasta to Italy via China. It was already in Italy at that time.
So how did it get there? Most food historians believe that Arabs (specifically from Libya) are to be credited for bringing pasta, along with spinach, eggplant and sugar cane, to the Mediterranean basin. In the Talmud, written in Aramaic in the 5th century AD, there is a reference to pasta being cooked by boiling. It is thought, then, that pasta was introduced to Italy during the Arab conquests of Sicily in the 9th century AD, which had the interesting side effect of drastically influencing the region’s cuisine. It also known that by the 12th century, the Italians had learned from the Arabs methods for drying pasta to preserve it while traveling. Further support for this theory can be found by the fact that, in many old Sicilian pasta recipes, there are Arab gastronomic introductions.
Bonus Factoids:
An alternative theory that has fallen out of favor is that pasta came to Italy via Greece, given that the origins of the name “pasta” seems to be Greek. The word ‘pasta’ itself comes from the Latin ‘pasta’ meaning ‘dough, pastry cake’ which probably came from the Greek word ‘pastos’ – ‘sprinkled with salt’, ‘salted’. Also, in ancient Greek mythology, there is a tale about the god Vulcan pushing dough through a device that converts it into thin, edible threads.
The first documented case of a ‘macaroni’ machine being brought to the U.S. is believed to have been brought by Thomas Jefferson in 1789 when he came back to the U.S. after serving as an ambassador to France. Later, Jefferson also invented his own pasta machine.
Dried pasta is shaped in a variety of ways to fit various types of sauces. Thin and long pasta suits oily, more liquid sauces, and more complicated shapes are better for thicker, chunkier sauces.
The modern word ‘macaroni’ derives from the Sicilian term for making dough forcefully. At that time, pasta dough was often kneaded with the feet for a significant amount of time.
Italian pasta enthusiasts organized a World Pasta Conference in 1995, they celebrate Word Pasta Day every year in October, since 1998. There is also an Italian Pasta Association and a Pasta Museum in Rome.
Pasta is a term for foods made from an unleavened dough of wheat or buckwheat flour and water. There are two main groups of pasta – fresh and dried. Dry pasta is typically made from durum wheat flour or durum wheat semolina which has high levels of gluten, which gives it the yellow color and also makes the dough easier to work with.
The first industrial pasta factory in the US was built in Brooklyn in 1848 by a Frenchman.
An alternative theory that has fallen out of favor is that pasta came to Italy via Greece, given that the origins of the name “pasta” seems to be Greek. The word ‘pasta’ itself comes from the Latin ‘pasta’ meaning ‘dough, pastry cake’ which probably came from the Greek word ‘pastos’ – ‘sprinkled with salt’, ‘salted’. Also, in ancient Greek mythology, there is a tale about the god Vulcan pushing dough through a device that converts it into thin, edible threads.
The first documented case of a ‘macaroni’ machine being brought to the U.S. is believed to have been brought by Thomas Jefferson in 1789 when he came back to the U.S. after serving as an ambassador to France. Later, Jefferson also invented his own pasta machine.
Dried pasta is shaped in a variety of ways to fit various types of sauces. Thin and long pasta suits oily, more liquid sauces, and more complicated shapes are better for thicker, chunkier sauces.
The modern word ‘macaroni’ derives from the Sicilian term for making dough forcefully. At that time, pasta dough was often kneaded with the feet for a significant amount of time.
Italian pasta enthusiasts organized a World Pasta Conference in 1995, they celebrate Word Pasta Day every year in October, since 1998. There is also an Italian Pasta Association and a Pasta Museum in Rome.
Pasta is a term for foods made from an unleavened dough of wheat or buckwheat flour and water. There are two main groups of pasta – fresh and dried. Dry pasta is typically made from durum wheat flour or durum wheat semolina which has high levels of gluten, which gives it the yellow color and also makes the dough easier to work with.
The first industrial pasta factory in the US was built in Brooklyn in 1848 by a Frenchman.
Sources:
History of pasta
Pasta recipes
National Pasta Association
Did Marco Polo bring pasta from China?
History and Origin of Pasta
History of pasta
Pasta recipes
National Pasta Association
Did Marco Polo bring pasta from China?
History and Origin of Pasta
9 comments:
Giuseppe, or, Camun, or whoever runs PAMLE:
How can I contact the Pamle staff? I could not find your email link. It seems that the email links at the yahoo site are all non-functional.
Thank you.
Hello. I'm the main person. My e-mail is camun@live.com
--Joseph
Great, thanks!
Just sent you one about Messi...
Please take the following as constructive criticism:
I realize that you may have a lot of obligations/time contraints, but seems like you could include a lot more Padania-pertinent entries on this blog(as opposed to speaking about non-existant Scandinavian ancestry of Padanians and/or de-facto Germans of Cortina d'Ampezzo).
For instance, do you know who Camillo Golgi was? If not,I'm very surprised and I suggest you do some research.
Guess what? He was born in the Val Cammonica. Just like your ancestors. Seems like the perfect person to honor.
Hello
As far as the first point, there is a lot that can be said about that. In fact, I have made contradictory statements on it. However, the Winnili were originally from Scandinavia. The Etruscans were the culturally superior people.
I don't know who that person is. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. I will definitely look it up.
--Joseph
Well, there is no doubt some folks originally from Scandinavia settled in Padania.
But, the majority of Padanian Y-chromosomes are of Gallic, Ligurian, Venetic, Umbrian(or other Italic), or Etruscan origin. R1B is the dominant haplotype, not R1A or I2A. Just like in Occitania and Northern Spain.
Phenotypically, Padanians are most similar to Occitanians(from Provence, Languedoc, etc.) AND/OR Yugoslavs like Croats, not Poles, Dutch, and Brits.
Typical Padanians: Andrea Pirlo, Alessandro del Piero, Giuseppe Bergomi, Alex Bellini, and Giacomo Agostini(look @ young pic of him).
Dinaric, Atlanto-Med, and Alpine.
typical Padanians, take a look:
***NOTE:Screened for cognomi.
Massimo Marchiori(next Federico Faggin! Must check out.)
Claudio Montiverdi
Gaetano Scirea(looks like Novak Djokovic)
Riccardo Patrese
Laura Pausini(Etruscan princess)
Mauro Bergamasco
Pippo Inzaghi
Andrea Minguzzi
Javier Zanetti
The folks in southern Italy, on the other hand, resemble Gennaro Gattuso and Marracash, whose types are typical of North African, Greek, and Near Eastern populations.
Michael Imperioli sort've comes to mind. Despite fair skin, he pretty clearly is akin to Phoenician, Berber, and other pre-Arab/Turkic native North African or Near Eastern populations.
The Roman/Latin linguistic influence is just that; "linguistic influence." Possibly Gaulish surnames like Brunell became Brunelli; or village names like Gromel became Grumello. Objectively, the historical ethnic influence in Padania is really not much different than Germany or France or Britain.
One can talk about "German ingenuity"; however, the science, art, creativity, and ingenuity--not to mention the average IQ--of our people is on an even par. Only their historical military might is superior.
Even then, some of the most powerful German armies were many times defeated during the Middle Ages. The Hapsburgs didn't invade the Venetian Republic because they knew they couldn't defeat them.
I don't really think of it like they were "Scandinavians." They were Langobards. They fought in wars and killed 10 to 1. They were like the Spartans.
When the Moors were getting ready to invade France, the Franks called upon the Langobards for help. When the Moors found out that they would be facing the Langobards, they didn't show up. That's a matter of historical record.
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