Pasta has been a food staple for hundreds of years. There may be few variations on the theme of where exactly pasta originated but here is a brief look at its brief more recent history:
“By the 1300's dried pasta was very popular for its nutrition and long shelf life, making it ideal for long ship voyages. Pasta made it around the globe during the voyages of discovery a century later. By that time different shapes of pasta have appeared and new technology made pasta easier to make. With these innovations pasta truly became a part of Italian life. However the next big advancement in the history of pasta would not come until the 19th century when pasta met tomatoes. "
"Although tomatoes were brought back to Europe shortly after their discovery in the New World, it took a long time for the plant to be considered edible. In fact tomatoes are a member of the nightshade family and rumors of tomatoes being poisonous continued in parts of Europe and its colonies until the mid 19th century. Therefore it was not until 1839 that the first pasta recipe with tomatoes was documented. However shortly thereafter tomatoes took hold, especially in the south of Italy. The rest of course is delicious history.”
From http://www.lifeinitaly.com/food/pasta-history.asp
While Italy has more than 300 shapes of dried pasta, there are not quite so many from which to choose in the U.S. There are, however a few categories that await us in the pasta aisle. Regular, Whole Wheat, and a sort of hybrid pasta that seems to have the best of both of the first two.
To be continued.
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