The answer to the question of who invented pasta, is quite simple. Some 7,000 years ago when man began to farm the land, they learned to grind wheat. These early flours were mixed with water, to form a dough which was rolled out onto hot stones and finally boiled in sea water.
In 3,000 BC, the ancient Greeks and Etruscans produced and ate the first types of pasta. It wasn’t until the 11th century in Sicily, that the first dried pasta was produced. The technique of drying pasta made it possible for its popularity to spread far across the Mediterranean sea to Amalfi in the south and Genoa in the north.
Genoa is where we find most of the documented evidence for the use of dried pasta, dating back to 1316. According to Italian medieval historians, the first pasta maker ever recorded was Maria Borgogno, the owner of a house in which ‘lasagna is made’. We do stress here the term ‘recorded’. The verdict is still out as to where the first lasagna was ever made and it is believed to have originated from Ancient Greece. Although the British have also staked their claim.
During the decline of Genoa during these times, their pasta fame faded too. The next city to claim fame for pasta making was Naples. For centuries, pasta was considered a luxury due to the difficulty in obtaining the wheat. It was during the 17th century that ‘maccherone’, the generic term for all types of pasta, became a dish common among the general population. The consumption of pasta grew too, because of the introduction of tomatoes into Europe.
Italians will tell you that the only way to enjoy good pasta is to cook it ‘al dente’ or ‘vierde vierde’. ‘Al dente means ‘to the tooth’, and ‘vierde vierde’ is a term used around the Naples area which means ‘very green’ or ‘unripened’. But it hasn’t always been this way.
In 1450, it was recommended that cooking times be up to 2 hours and that the pasta be served with sauces with salt, cheese and sweet spices.
In the 17th century, it was recommended that a cooking time should be 1 hour for dried vermicelli and 30 minutes for fresh pasta.
At the end of the 19th century, it was Artusi who advised draining spaghetti while it still had some bite. It was still being served with sweet sauces with honey, spices and cinnamon sugar. These so-called sauces were not cooked but added to the cooked pasta before serving. The only savory ingredient which has been constant, is cheese. It was only during the 18th century that savory sauces started to find popularity.
The first recorded recipe that included tomatoes, dates from 1839 and is by Ippolito Cavalcanti, the Duke of Buonvicino in southern Italy.
TO CONCLUDE
The question of who invented pasta is with reference to the first dough and the first shape. Since then new doughs continue to be invented. Consider those among us who are gluten intolerant. As for the shapes, well, we lay claim to having invented a few shapes of our own.
There is no doubt that for those of us who are passionate about our pasta, we will continue to push the boundries of pasta making because we know that when it comes to the question of invention, there are infinite ‘pasta-bilities’.
