Pasta
23871
225189723
2008-07-12T10:48:30Z
Nsaa
113357
Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/82.4.76.16|82.4.76.16]] to last version by NawlinWiki (using [[WP:HG|Huggle]])
{{nutritionalvalue | name=Pasta, dry, unenriched | water=10 g | kJ=1553 | protein=13 g | fat=1.5 g | carbs=75 g | sugars=2 g | fibre=3 g | starch=62 g | folate_ug=18 | right=1 | source_usda=1 }}
'''Pasta''' is an [[Italian cuisine|Italian]] food made from a [[dough]] using [[flour]], [[water]] and/or [[Egg (food)|eggs]].
There are approximately 350 different [[shapes of pasta]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lifeinitaly.com/food/pasta-history.asp |title=History of Pasta |accessdate=2008-04-06}}</ref> A few examples include [[spaghetti]] (solid, thin [[cylinders]]), [[maccheroni]] ([[Tubing (material)|tubes]] or hollow cylinders), [[fusilli]] (swirls), [[lasagne]] (sheets), and [[gnocchi]] (balls), although this is considered a separate dish by some. The two basic styles of pasta are dried and fresh. There are also variations in the ingredients used in pasta. The time for which pasta can be stored varies from days to years depending upon whether the pasta is made with egg or not, and whether it is dried or fresh<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/get_cooking/cooks_guide/pasta.shtml |title=BBC Food - Get cooking - Pasta |accessdate=2008-04-06}}</ref>. Pasta is [[boiled]] prior to consumption.
The word, ''pasta'', can also denote dishes in which pasta products are the primary ingredient, served with sauce or seasonings.
{{Quote box
|quote=From [[Italian language|Italian]] ''pasta'', from [[Latin]] ''pasta'' "dough, pastry cake, paste", from [[Greek language|Greek]] πάστα (''pasta'') "barley porridge".
|source=<ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pasta |title=pasta - Wiktionary |accessdate=2008-04-06}}</ref>
}}
[[Image:Moser Spaghetti essender Junge.jpg||thumb|right|200px|''Boy with [[Spaghetti]]'' by Julius Moser, c.1808]]
__TOC__
==Ingredients==
There are many ingredients that can be used to make pasta dough. They range from a simple flour and water mixture, to those that call for the addition of eggs, spices and cheeses, or even [[squid ink]] to the dough.
Under Italian law, dry pasta (''pasta secca'') can only be made from [[durum]] wheat or [[semolina]] flour. Durum flour has a yellow tinge in color. Italian pasta is traditionally cooked ''al dente'' (Italian: "to the tooth", meaning not too soft). Abroad, dry pasta is frequently made from other types of flour (such as [[farina]]), but this yields a softer product, which cannot be cooked ''al dente''.
Particular varieties of pasta may also use other grains and/or milling methods to make the flour. Some pasta varieties, such as [[Pizzoccheri]], are made from [[buckwheat]] flour. Various types of fresh pasta include [[egg (food)|eggs]] (''pasta all'uovo''). [[Gnocchi]] are often listed among pasta dishes, although they are quite different in ingredients (mainly milled [[potato]]es).
== History ==
[[Image:6-alimenti, pasta,Taccuino Sanitatis, Casanatense 4182..jpg|thumb|left|250px|Making pasta; illustration from the 15th century edition of ''[[Tacuinum Sanitatis]]'', a Latin translation of the [[Arabic]] work ''Taqwīm al-sihha'' by [[Ibn Butlan]].<ref name = Watson>Watson, Andrew M (1983). ''Agricultural innovation in the early Islamic world''. New York: [[Cambridge University Press]]. p. 22-3</ref>]]Though the Chinese were eating [[noodles]] as long ago as 2000 [[Before Christ|BC]] (this is known thanks to the discovery of a well-preserved bowl of noodles over 4000 years old<ref>{{cite science | last = Lu | first = Houyuan | coauthors = ''et al.'' | date =13 October 2005 | title = Culinary archaeology: Millet noodles in Late Neolithic China | journal = Nature | volume = 437 | pages = 967–968 | doi =10.1038/437967a | news =http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4335160.stm | abstract =http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v437/n7061/abs/437967a.html}}</ref>), the familiar legend of [[Marco Polo]] importing pasta from [[China]] is just that—a legend<ref> [http://www.ilovepasta.org/faqs.html National Pasta Association] article ''FAQs'' section "Who "invented" pasta?"</ref>, whose origins lie not in Polo's ''[[The Travels of Marco Polo|Travels]]'', but in the newsletter of the National Macaroni Manufacturers Association.<ref>{{cite book | last = Serventi | first = Silvano | coauthors = Françoise Sabban | others = Trans. Antony Shugaar | title = Pasta: The Story of a Universal Food | year = 2002 | publisher = Columbia University Press | location = New York | id = ISBN 0231124422 | pages = 10}}</ref> The works of the 2nd century CE Greek physician [[Galen]] mention ''itrion'', homogeneous compounds made up of flour and water.<ref name=ss17>{{Harvcolnb|Serventi|Sabban|2002|p=17}}</ref> The [[Jerusalem Talmud]] records that ''itrium'', a kind of boiled dough,<ref name=ss17/> was common in Palestine from the 3rd to 5th centuries CE<ref>{{Harvcolnb|Serventi|Sabban|2002|p=29}}</ref> A dictionary compiled by the 9th century Syrian physician and lexicographer Isho bar Ali defines ''itriyya'' as stringlike pasta shapes made of semolina and dried before cooking, a recognizable ancestor of modern-day dried pasta.<ref name=ss17/>[[Image:Lasagna.jpg|thumb|200px|right|[[Lasagne]]]]One form of ''itrion'' with a long history is ''laganum'' (plural ''lagana''), which in Latin refers to a thin sheet of dough.<ref name=ss15>{{Harvcolnb|Serventi|Sabban|2002|pp=15–16}}</ref> In the 1st century BC work of Horace, ''lagana'' were fine sheets of dough which were fried<ref>{{Harvcolnb|Serventi|Sabban|2002|p=24}}</ref> and were an everyday food.<ref name=ss15/> Writing in the 2nd century [[Athenaeus of Naucratis]] provides a recipe for ''lagana'' which he attributes to the 1st century Chrysippus of Tyana: very fine sheets of a dough made of wheat flour and the juice of crushed lettuce, then flavored with spices and deep-fried in oil.<ref name=ss15/> An early 5th century cookbook describes a dish called ''lagana'' that consisted of several layers of rolled-out dough alternating with meat stuffing and baked in an oven, a recognizable ancestor of modern-day ''[[Lasagna]]''.<ref name=ss15/>
The innovation of dried pasta, in the form of long thin noodles we use today (spaghetti), is documented by Arabs<ref name = Watson/> who wrote of its existence in Southern Italy (i.e. Trabia, Sicily) around the 12th Century. Prior to this, Italians are said to have eaten their pasta freshly made (''pasta fresca'') in a gnocchi and lasagna like forms.
== Accompaniments ==
[[Image:Pasta with pesto.jpg|right|thumb|250px|''Pesto [[Cavatappi]].'']]
Common pasta sauces in [[Northern Italy]] include [[pesto]] and [[ragù alla bolognese]]; in [[Central Italy]], simple [[tomato sauce]], [[amatriciana]] and [[carbonara]], and in [[Southern Italy]], spicy tomato, garlic, and olive oil based sauces, often paired with fresh vegetables or seafood. Varieties include [[puttanesca]], ''pasta alla norma'' (tomatoes, eggplant and fresh or baked cheese), ''pasta con le sarde'' (fresh sardines, pine nuts, fennel and olive oil), ''spaghetti aglio, olio e peperoncino'' (literally with garlic, (olive) oil and hot chili peppers).
[[Fettuccine alfredo]], with butter and cheese, and spaghetti with tomato sauce with or without ground meat or meatballs are popular Italian-style dishes in the [[United States]].
As pasta is introduced elsewhere in the world, it has been incorporated into a number of local cuisines that may have significantly different ways of preparations from those of its country of origin. In [[Hong Kong]], the local Chinese has adopted pasta, primarily [[spaghetti]] and [[macaroni]], as an ingredient in the [[Hong Kong-style Western cuisine]]. In the territory's [[Cha chaan teng]]s, pasta, most commonly macaroni, is cooked in water, and served in broth with [[ham]] or [[sausage|frankfurter sausages]], peas, [[shiitake|black mushrooms]], and optionally [[egg (food)|eggs]] reminiscent of [[noodle soup]] dishes. This is often a course for breakfast or light lunch fare <ref>AP, Explore the world of Canto-Western cuisine, January 8, 2007 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16440507/</ref>. The method often involves cooking the pasta well beyond the [[al dente]] stage and washing the starches off the pasta after cooking, measures frowned upon in Italy or in Hong Kong's more authentic Italian eateries.
== See also ==
*[[List of pasta]]
*[[Italian cuisine]]
*[[Cooking]]
== References ==
{{reflist|2}}
==External links==
* [http://www.ilovepasta.org/ National Pasta Association]
* [http://www.archimedes-lab.org/pastashape.html Pasta shapes] – history and an abridged list of pasta shapes.
{{commonscat|Pasta}}
{{Cookbook|Pasta Recipes}}
{{Cuisine}}
[[Category:Staple foods]]
[[Category:Pasta|*]]
[[Category:Mediterranean cuisine]]
[[Category:Italian loanwords]]
[[da:Pasta]]
[[de:Pasta]]
[[el:Ζυμαρικό]]
[[es:Pasta]]
[[eo:Nudelo]]
[[fr:Pâtes alimentaires]]
[[gd:Pastà]]
[[gl:Pasta]]
[[id:Pasta]]
[[it:Pasta]]
[[he:פסטה]]
[[nl:Pasta]]
[[ja:パスタ]]
[[no:Pasta]]
[[nn:Pasta]]
[[pl:Makaron]]
[[pt:Massas alimentícias]]
[[ru:Макаронные изделия]]
[[scn:Pasta]]
[[simple:Pasta]]
[[sl:Testenine]]
[[fi:Pasta]]
[[sv:Pasta]]
[[th:พาสต้า]]
[[tr:makarna]]
[[zh:意式麵食]]