HISTORY OF PASTA

Good evening peeps!! Today I'm going to write about the history of pasta. I know, when people talk about pasta, Italy will come in our mind, right? But, let me tell you this, actually at the very first place, pasta was known in China. When most people talk about pasta, they probably think of Italy as its birth place. But then, it is not. According to a research, around 1700 B.C. Chinese came up with a noodle made from rice flour. Even though most people insist on giving credit to the Italians, the Chinese do get the vote from most historians. This doesn't mean that the Italians were not major player in the evolution of pasta as we know it. It is around 400 B.C. when the Etruscan, who live in an area in the western part of Italy, made a noodle similar to lasagna. This noodle was made from spelt, a grain from which wheat has evolved. Then, some time later, Romans are credited with making a noodle similar to the one made by the Etruscan. These noodles, including the one that made by the Chinese, were prepared by baking in an oven. 

This video follows the history of pasta from 5th century Sicily to the present day

This 14th-century Italian miniature shows two stages in pasta making. The woman to the right is kneading the dough while her colleague is hanging cut strips of vermicelli—little worms—to dry on a rack. Much later, a thicker variation of vermicelli developed, today known as spaghetti. If I'm not mistaken, spaghetti need to be hanged because to dry them up.

Reference:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_flour

http://bakingbites.com/2008/04/what-is-spelt-flour/

http://www.internationalpasta.org/index.aspx?id=6

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/magazine/2016/07-08/daily-life-pasta-italy-neapolitan-diet/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTOCBaDBVGI