A penchant for pasta

Press, 4 February 1987, Page 16

A penchant for pasta

Pasta has long been part of Italy’s magic. Its name derives from the Italian generic word for a dough made from flour and water. Yet while Italy is the undisputed leader for all forms of pasta — from spaghetti to ravioli — its exact origins are uncertain. It was once believed that Marco Polo, after visiting China during his epic journeys, introduced pasta to the Italians in the thirteenth century. But

while Asian countries have for centuries eaten noodles, their form of pasta, Italians had discovered it long before Marco Polo was born. '

Now it is known that the early Greeks, Etruscans and Romans all had a penchant for pasta, and the legend about Marco Polo’s part in pasta history was finally dismissed after excavations at Pompeii.

Here, pasta-making utensils were unearthed which proved that the ancient Romans used it to supplement their daily fare, if not their more spectacular feasts.

Whichever of the ancients first produced something akin to the pasta we know today the Italians undoubtedly have developed the countless pasta forms now available and have spread a liking for it around the globe. In America, with the continuing emigration of Italians throughout the nineteenth century,

pasta’s popularity grew. There, in the late 19405, pasta-mania was particularly evident. Italian purists do not eat pasta as a main course but it was to become one in the United States after World War Two. And it was in this country that commerci-ally-made pasta became big business with a wide range of shapes being designed, especially in the dried variety. Dried pasta has been a standby for many cooks for a long time and continues to have its uses. But fresh pasta, once mainly handled by Italians or specialist chefs in modern cooking, shows signs of becoming an essential in the larder of discerning home cooks. A combination of choice and necessity has seen a small number of New Zealanddrs, from family cooks to making their own pasta by hand or on small, imported machines. And

it has been available, in it§ fresh form rather than dried, for some time on a small scale through specialist delicatessens. Since the end of 1985 factory-made fresh pasta on a wider scale has been available in North Island foodmarkets, made by Mother Earth Health Foods of Papakura. They imported Italian machinery and an Italian pasta expert was brought to New Zealand to share the secrets of successful pasta-making (“roll the dough, again, again, and yet again”). They use flour from durum wheat, as is used in all correctly made Italian-style pasta. This thrives in dry, hot climates and grows in low rainfall areas such as Southern Italy, Spain, parts of Russia, America, Canada and Australia, which exports durum wheat from Brisbane tb New Zealand. There is also one New Zealand grower of duruni wheat. ,

Durum is a high-pro-tein, hard wheat which is nutritious and has a superior cooking quality with a better taste than pasta made from softer, less expensive wheats. In Christchurch, Pasta Pasta makes fresh pasta daily at its Merlvale shop. They use an Italian machine and New Zea-land-grown durum wheat, and . supply restaurants throughout the South Island as well as their own two retail stores.

The Important thing to remember with all pasta is that it should be cooked properly — to the al dente stage and no more. The Italian words, al dente, mean ‘‘to the tooth," a way of describing pasta that is tender but still firm. It should never be soft and mushy. Fresh pasta, like dried pasta, needs to be cooked in lots of steadily-boiling water. But, unlike the dried variety it cooks far more-quickly, a boon "for those with busy schedules.