All shapes and sizes of fresh pasta made in new shop

Press, 25 July 1985, Page 15

All shapes and sizes of fresh pasta made in new shop

“No, not plaster!” exclaimed the pre-opening poster on the front window of “Pasta, Pasta, etc.” Bedecked in the Italian colours of red, white and green, the new Merivale shop opened last week and is selling fresh pasta made daily. The shop owners, Jacqui Harrop and Nigel Turnbull, explain that the sign was

their reply to an incident with an elderly lady, who popped in one day to ask what the shop would sell. A little hard of hearing, the lady said, “What? Plaster?” Educating the public about pasta (pronounced “pastor”) is what the shop is all about. Jacqui, who will man the shop, says the outlet is the first of its kind in the South Island.

Until now, dried, packaged pasta is all that has been available in New Zealand, and because making the Italian food is a laborious process, most people have never experienced fresh pasta. The difference, says Jacqui, lies in the high egg content of fresh pasta, making it tender. It should, ideally, be

eaten within two days but will last for several. With the aid of a specialty imported machine, “Pasta, Pasta” can produce a variety of pasta: the familiar spaghetti and macaroni shapes, alongside the lesser known conchiglie (shells), rotini (spirals), lasagne and cannelloni (sheets), and tagliatelle (strips). Pasta is the staple diet of

the Italians, says Jacqui, who has spent some time in Italy. She had been making her own pasta for about three or four years and it was while she was in Queensland, where there are many pasta shops and a large Italian population, that Jacqui thought of Christchurch. She returned from Australia three months ago to set up “Pasta, Pasta.”