A brief history of pasta. The true story. Part I.

There are many myths surrounding the origin of pasta. In Italian, pasta is used as a word for dough, pastry, or macaroni, depending on context. But this is not about etymological myths, but rather those that surround the invention of pasta-being of the macaroni variety. And so the facts should be set straight.

Yes, the Chinese have the oldest evidence of what might be deemed pasta in the world. In 2005, archaeologists discovered a tangle of dried noodles in an earthenware bowl, which, miraculously had been preserved for 4,000 years in northeastern China. So much is true, but that leaves a common misconception of how Italians got their pasta to be kneaded out…

No, Marco Polo did not bring pasta back with him from his journey to China, though he most certainly tasted varieties of it there. And no, Chinese pasta did not consist of the same ingredients or utilize the same technique the Italians would adopt. Chinese “pasta” was prepared from a cereal grass called millet, which produced a less-hearty iteration of pasta than that from ground wheat we have grown most accustomed to. On the contrary, Italian pasta was based in durum wheat, rich in gluten, higher in calories, and ultimately conducive to the Mediterranean climate in a way China could not be. Furthermore, the malleability of the gluten-based pasta would enable more creativity in the shaping and stretching of the pasta. Also, it should be noted that Chinese pasta of this time was not cooked from dry strands such as that boxed at the grocery store. Instead, Chinese pastas were made from fresh dough. Though this still fails to evidence how it could be known that Marco Polo’s first contact with the far east isn’t the source of Italy’s first pasta.

Such is known, because before Marco Polo set off in 1292 for the far east, the Arab geographer Idrisi had encountered flour-based, stringed pasta in Sicily in 1154. So how did it get there? Spontaneous generation? Not quite. There is evidence that the ancient Greeks and Romans too, grew this durum wheat, and made bread from it. Records appear to indicate that such production of grain, semolina, did not extend to pasta creation, but Greek mythology details Vulcan pushing dough through a device that makes it into narrow, edible strands. Also, curiously, the ancient Greek word meaning “ribbon” is itrion, and the Arabic word for “noodle,” itrijab suggest some etymological relation. But, as critics of this article might put forth, this is still speculative and does not offer a definitive source of the Italian breed of macaroni.

Most food historians credit the Arabs for bringing pasta, along with spinach, eggplant and sugar cane, to the Mediterranean basin. By the ninth century, Arab groups had expanded into Sicily and southern Italy, likely bringing along noodle-making techniques learned from their Eastern neighbors. By the 12th century, Arabs had also taught Italians their methods for drying pasta, which they would have used for preserving the food while traveling. As for tomato sauce, tomatoes would not be found in Italy until after the Colombian exchange, being that they, as we know them, were exclusively New World produce.

In Part II, we will explore the misconception of Spaghetti and Meatballs and the role of pasta in Italy today.