history - food : pasta

Pasta

FARINACEOUS DISHES

From Italian pasta to Chinese noodles and Indian rice, these are all clasified as farinaceous dishes.

What are farinaceous dishes?

The term farinaceous is used to describe all pasta, noodles, spatzlé, gnocchi and rice dishes; gnocchi being an Italian word for small dumplings.

They are all based on a carbohydrate; the term farinaceous coming from the Latin and French word for flour 'farine' To be taken as broad term for a dish prepared from 'floury' items.

Classically, farinaceous dishes were cooked in a large kitchen by the Entremetier, and served after the soup dish but before the main course, or as a main course.

What is durum wheat flour?

Italian Pasta are made from a strong wheat flour called durum wheat, sometimes also called semolina flour. It is milled from a special wheat grown especially for pasta; because it has a very high gluten content. This strong flour produces the dough's strength; the high gluten that is required for the pastas elasticisty. Without it the pasta would fall apart on cooking.

PASTA : GENERAL INFO

Storage
Dried pasta has a shelf life of up to two years. Whereas fresh pasta may be stored up to a month.

Food value
Durum wheat has a 15% protein content and is high in carbohydrates in the form of starch; which gives the body energy. This is why athletes build up on carbohydrates the day before competition. On its own it is a very healthy food, it is the sauces etc that accompany the pasta that can make it heart attack material if one is not careful.

VARIETIES

There are many forms of pasta, both in shape and size, in fact hundreds of them, including :

• Flat pasta
  Lasagne
  Spaghetti
  Fettuccine
  Tagliatelle
  Linguini
  Vermicelli
  Fussilli

• Filled/stuffed pasta
  Cannelloni
  Ravioli
  Ravolini
  Tortellini
  Tortelloni

• Shaped pasta
  Conchiglie
  Ruote
  Rigatoni
  Rotini
  Pennette
  Farfallini
  Macaroni
  Farfalle
  Manicotti
  Capelletti
  Agnolini

. . . and all of these can come in various flavours with addition of tomato, spinach and a variety of herbs.

COMMERCIAL PASTA MAKING:

Wheat is milled into semolina and coarsely ground flour and then delivered to the pasta factory (called pastificio in Italy) where it is checked for impurities and stored in storage silos. The coarsely ground flour and semolina are gently mixed with water to form a stiff paste perfect for shaping. This is usually done in large tubs, the last of which is under vacuum which contributes to the amber colour of the pasta. Egg may also be added for noodle mix - usually two eggs for every 454g of pasta.

Pasta dough then moves into pressing machines where mixing, kneading and blending continues. When the dough is just right it is pressed through metal plates with holes in them. These are called die plates. The shape of the holes in the die plate decides the shape of the pasta. A process where dough is extruded through various different shapes of nozzles to form the type of pasta required is also used overseas.

Two types of extruding nozzles, teflon and bronze can be used. Teflon nozzles give the pasta a smooth, translucent surface, whereas the bronze one gives the pasta a rough, opaque surface. Factories using teflon nozzles can produce far more pasta in a shorter time than those using the bronze ones, because the dough passes through teflon much more quickly than it does through bronze. One of the oldest pasta factories in Naples, Voiello, still uses the old-fashioned bronze variety and although the slower production raises the price, the factory owners say that real pasta lovers are willing to pay a little more to get perfect pasta.

From here the type of pasta you're making determines the rest of the process. To make long goods such as spaghetti the die plate or extrusions nozzles have round holes. As the pasta moves through the holes it forms long strands. They hang down to form a curtain. A rod moves behind the strands. At the die plate the spaghetti is cut with a sharp blade. To make short goods (such as macaroni) there are a huge variety of die plates. The tube shape of macaroni comes from a hole with a pint in the centre. For alphabet macaroni the holes are shaped into letters. As the pasta moves our of the die plate it is cut by a rotating knife. The short pasta falls over a steam heated vibrator and moves into the drying line. To make noodles, lasagne and kluski, the pasta is pressed through special die shapes and cut to the required length.

Once cut, the pasta is ready for drying. In Italy, many years ago, pasta used to dry on the sunny beaches of the Mediterranean. Interestingly there are two points of view held by manufacturers over the drying process. The teflon users say that the drying process can be speed up (8-11 hours) without detriment to the quality of the pasta. The bronze users say that pasta has to be dried slowly to enable it to ferment slightly and gain flavour (12-48 hours depending on the pasta shape). In both cases the pasts is dried until the moisture content has fallen to 12.5% or below.

In New Zealand a combination of drying processes is used. The pasta is first pre-dried at very high temperatures, rested (or cured), and then dried in a final dryer just enough to keep the moisture it needs. Before pasta is packaged it is carefully examined and some of it is tested by cooking to ensure that everything is perfect. Good pasta should not become soft or slimy while cooking and should hold its perfectly cooked state, al dente, for up to ten minutes, once drained, before being classed as 'overcooked'. After testing it is then weighed and, if necessary, cut.

Pasta has a shelf life of two years provided it is stored in a cool, dry place away from other products which could contaminate it. The experts say that pasta, like wine, improves with age.

ITALIAN REGIONAL CUISINE

Until 1891 Italy was a collection of independent states, each with its own laws, customs and traditions. Naturally becoming one country, did and does not mean those regional customs and traditions were lost.

There is a particularly marked difference between northern and southern Italy; regions in the north tend to be more industrialised and prosperous than those in the south, with the northern soil being more fertile.

The differences in cuisine is that the northern Italians tend to prefer the flatter pasta and cook with butter, whereas those in the south tend towards the tubular varieties and prefer the use of olive oil.

Well known pasta dishes from the northern province of Liguria include ravioli and minestrone soup. The rice growing area in the Po Valley, just behind Venice, provides abundant supplies of arboreo rice. This especially absorbent rice is the basis for risottos and an excellent way of stretching small amounts of fish and meat to feed a large family. Many delicious, creamy risotto recipes have evolved: risotto Milanaise from Lombardy must be one of the best known. Two of the most famous products of the north are Parmesan cheese and prosciutto (Parma) ham. Parmesan cheese is at its best after two years of drying and maturing, it becomes stronger the longer it is left. The whey from the cheese is fed to the Parma pigs and combined with the careful salting and drying processes on the hillsides, results in the delicately flavoured ham.

As Italy is virtually surrounded by the sea, locally caught fish are a dominant feature of most regional cuisines. Venice is particularly noted for its red and grey mullet, squid, scampi and mussels. In the north, sea fish supplies are supplemented by excellent fresh water fish from the lakes of Lombardy, especially eels.

Southern provinces

The southern coast and the islands of Sicily and Sardinia are dotted with fishing villages. Here tuna, sardines, swordfish and a variety of shellfish are caught and used locally in pasta dishes, sauces, soups, stews and salads.

Abundant supplies of tomatoes, garlic, herbs and anchovies in the south, give their dishes their characteristic aromatic quality. Naples the culinary centre of the south, claims the invention of the pizza and ice cream as we know it today. Pizzas are baked in open brick ovens of pizzerias and bakeries, and most often eaten as snacks. Mozzarella; the cheese used for pizza toppings has been for centuries made in the surrounding countryside of Campania. It is a good melting cheese and lends itself well to all types of pizzas and cooked dishes. The equally famous Italian ices are made in mouth watering flavours, and like pizza, have spread all over Italy and the world.

The information contained here is supplied for your interest only and further research may be required. I have gathered it from many sources over many years. While I attempt to insure they are crossed referenced for accuracy, I take no responsibility for mistakes - additions or corrections are welcomed.

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