Pasta

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The Italian word Pasta has many meanings, including "pastry", "dough", "pastry" as in "small cake", or "paste". In English, the word is generally understood to mean certain types of noodles that are produced from the paste of ground grains (flour) mixed with water, and often egg and salt.

Wheat noodles are by far the most common noodles in Asia (c.f., Chinese noodles and the Japanese udon and somen) and Europe (c.f., spaghetti), while rice noodles tend to be rare outside of Asia. In English-speaking countries, Italian noodles are the kind most often referred to as "pasta". In Italy, pasta with sauce (sugo) is often called "pastasciutta" ("asciutta" means "dry," indicating that the pasta is not served in broth).

While it is often said that Marco Polo brought the concept back with him from China (from where should come spaghetti), the first pastas that we know about in Europe were on Etruscan tombs from the 4th century BC. Records show that pasta existed in Italy long before Polo's voyages.

Thomas Jefferson is credited with bringing the first macaroni machine to America in 1789 when he returned home after serving as ambassador to France.

Common pasta sauces include pesto, spaghetti sauce, and alfredo.


Contents

Pasta varieties

Shaped Pasta:

Tubular Pasta:

Strand Noodles:

Ribbon Pasta Noodles:

Soup Pasta:

Stuffed Pasta:

Asian Noodles:

Commercial Pasta:

Related topics

External link


References

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