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Pasta History

The beginning of pasta date back to times of yore.

The rise of pasta seems to have started among specific populations in certain areas and later spread to the whole world. Ancient sources say that the Chinese invented pasta, and the Marco Polo introduced it to Italy in 1292 AD. However, the origins of 'macaroni' in Italy go back as far s the time of the Ancient Romans who gave the credit to the 'Gods'. In the Middle Ages in Sicily, dry pasta was eaten by the Arabs who ruled this area then. Some say that 'maccheroni' is derived from the Sicilian word 'maccarruni' meaning 'made into a dough by force'. The first recorded mention of a noodle was in the Jerusalem Talmud, written in Aramic. So suffice to say, the area with the first recorded archeological findings of wheat farming 8-10,000 years ago in the Jordan Valley were also among the first to make and consume some basic form of pasta.

The key ingredient of pasta is wheat, so it is reasonable to first consider the history of wheat farming. The first recorded mention of a noodle was in the Jerusalem Talmud, written in Aramaic. So suffice to say, the area with the first recorded archeological findings of wheat farming 8-10,000 years ago in the Jordan Valley were also among the first to make and consume some basic form of pasta. There is no direct evidence that these early people developed pasta, but it is clear they prepared and used wheat flour. It is not unrealistic to believe that someone at that time could have mixed flour and water to create a paste, - then shaped and dried the paste and finally cook the food in boiling water.

The first hint we have of pasta comes from the tools used for making and cooking pasta found in an 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 macaroni siciliani", (The Art of Cooking Sicilian macaroni and Vermicelli) written by Martino Corno, chef to the powerful Patriarch of Aquileia. Pasta was certainly well known in Arab countries, where still today they speak 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 we have the first historical sources referring to the production of dried pasta in what seems like a small-scale industrial enterprise. 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 ship."

1279... "a basket of macaroni"

The first "official" mention of pasta: a notary's inventory of an inheritance speaks of "a bariscela (basket) full of macaronis." A document from 1244 and another from 1316 testify to the production of dried pasta in Liguria as well. Between 1400 and 1500, the production by craftsmen of "fidei" (pasta in the local dialect) became quite widespread in Liguria, as demonstrated by the founding of the Corporation of Pasta-Makers in 1574 in Genoa. Three years later, the "Regolazione dell'Arte dei Maestri Fidelari" (Rules for the Pasta-Masters' Art Corporation) were drawn up 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 invention of the mechanical press) made it possible to produce pasta at a much lower price. Pasta thus became the food of the people. Naples's 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 18th century: how was pasta 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 engineer (Cesare Spadaccini) to improve the procedure. The new system consisted of adding boiling water to freshly-ground flour, and kneading by foot was replaced by a machine made of bronze that perfectly imitated the work done by man. In 1740, the city of Venice issued Paolo Adami a license 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 - "Genoa-style" - in the city of Parma.

The market

1830: 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 throughout 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 the 1800's. At first, the tomato was considered an ornamental plant, and according to a legend that took some time to die off, actually poisonous! It wasn't until 1778 that Vincenzo Corrado in his "Cuoco galante" (The Gentlemen's 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 in the south for seasoning macaroni. And pizza - which dates back to the cradle of human civilization - began to be seasoned with tomato sauce and mozzarella only in the mid 19th century.

1840: Naples capital of pasta

Several pasta makers from Amalfi opened a true industry of pasta at Torre Anunziata. It used water mills and grinding stones, and the semolina was separated from the bran using hand-held sieves. Machines brought with them market development, competition and exportation across the ocean. In 1878, a machine destined to incomparably improve semolina - and therefore pasta - was introduced: the Marseillais purifier, invented at Marseilles. The perforated leather which had been used in manual sieves was applied to mechanical shakers. The first hydraulic press was made in 1882 and the first steam-powered mill was used in 1884.

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 shake up the market by changing the dies and inventing new, imaginative shapes. How many types of pasta could you get back then? A pasta factory offered an assortment that ranged from 150 to 200 different shapes.

Conquering the world

1904-1914: The decade of technology

Artificial drying in air-conditioned environments made pasta available in all the regions of Italy, and people began to refer to the pasta industry. The wheat most beloved by pasta makers was the Taganrog variety, the unsurpassed durum wheat imported from Russia. The port of Taganrog, in Crimea, shipped off the wheat that the Ligurian and Neapolitan pasta-makers preferred. Actually, they couldn't do without it. An old brochure for a Ligurian pasta factory - at a time in which half of its production was destined for the state of New York alone - talks about "Pasta of Taganrog."

I love pasta!

The great development of Italian pasta at the turn of the century was also tied to exportation, which in 1913 touched a record high of 70,000 tons, most of which was directed towards the United States. Later, importing countries began to produce at home, and Italian-built pasta-making machinery soon conquered the world. In 1917, Fereol Sandragne patented the first system for continuous pasta production. Meanwhile, the Bolshevik revolution had cut off exportation of Russian wheat: in Russia, the land had been taken over by the State and the peasant was obliged "to turn his entire production of wheat over to the state, after having detracted only the quantity necessary for sowing and for his family's consumption."

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