PASTA
It is thought that pasta, understood as "maccheroni",
comes from Sicily: in fact, they were used to
make a kind of thread-shaped flour food in Trabia,
a village near Palermo.
Until the XVIII century the several kinds of pasta
are usually called "maccheroni". Afterwards
the Neapolitans, labelled as "maccheroni-eaters",
used the word to refer to long pasta: the "maccheroni",
considered as a poor but quick to cook and nourishing
food, became very common in people's diet.
Some photos dating back to the beginning of the
XIX century show the so-called "maccheronari",
i.e. people who were used to cook maccheroni in
big pots at the corners of the streets and to
serve them with some grated cheese to the wayfarers,
who ate pasta with their own hands. Since then
the "maccheroni", understood as long,
rounded pasta, were called "spaghetti"
and they became the symbol not only of the Neapolitans
but of the whole Italian people.
HOW PASTA IS MADE
- wheat harvest;
- selection: the corn is selected to be ground
down into flour on account of its healthy features;
- grinding: the corn is carried to the mill;
first it is sifted from the chaff, then it is
grinded in order to get high-quality "semole".
Only durum wheat is used to make pasta whereas
soft wheat and the flour got by it are used
by bakeries and by the confectionery industry;
- dough and kneading: durum wheat semola is
mixed with water, so the starch and the proteins
mix with water producing gluten. The dough gets
its characteristic shape and look. Thanks to
the next kneading-step the dough becomes well-blended
and stretch. Pasta is therefore the result of
mixing water with flour obtained by the milling
of wheat; it does not contain salt. Italian
Law forbids the use of preservatives and colouring
agents;
- "trafilazione": the dough is put
into moulds which give it various formats. The
process has not finished yet: indeed, as the
dough still contains too much water (about 30%
of its weight) and therefore it could not be
preserved well, it is put into driers;
- drying: the duration of this process varies
according to the kind of pasta that must be
made. This is the most delicate step of the
whole cycle of production. Pasta is ventilated
through warm air many times in order to get
the damp out. The Law establishes that at last
the dampness must not be over 12,5%;
- packaging.
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