Welcome to the kingdom of pasta

Hi everyone!

If we think about Italy and Italians, often the first thing that comes to our mind is pasta. In fact, much has been said and written about their love of this food, to the point that in language appears a word which, in a bit ironic way, describes the relationship between Italians and pasta. Any ideas? One at a time! :D. Well, I will give you some time to think and now we’re coming to the heart of the matter :).

Actually it’s heart to argue that pasta provides an absolute basis of the Italian diet. Is eaten for the first course EVERY DAY! I know…for us it can be a bit difficult to imagine it but believe me that in Italy there are virtually no exceptions from this rule. The Italians strongly defend their flagship food and say that it’s impossible to be bored of that because you can combine it with different products. In the stores we can find various types and shapes of pasta but the choice isn’t so obvious as it seems. While in the case of wondering between wholemeal pasta and wheat pasta, the choice can be dictated by a diet, what is the significance of shape? The Italians convince that exactly shape of noodles is extremely important to bring out the favour of the whole dish. Well, before getting down to cooking, let’s see what shape of pasta should we take :).

Spaghetti- is the of Italy’s most iconic pasta shape. Is a long ( around 30 cm), thin, cylindrical pasta. During my travels to Italy, I noticed that spaghetti is particularly liked by the children J. It is worth adding that in polish language spaghetti means not only the shape of noodles but also is used to refer to whole dish. The most popular sauces served with this type of pasta are Carbonara and Bolognese, of course but don’t remember also of dishes like spaghetti aglio e olio (spaghetti with garlic and oil) or spaghetti alle vongole (spaghetti with clams) in which spaghetti noodles is crucial. At this point one remark- I know that sometimes people cut this pasta to eat it more comfortably, but please, don’t do that! It’s not very…Italian :D.

Penne- type of pasta with cylinder- shaped pieces, their ends cut at a bias. It’s very many sided shape because thanks to big holes, different sauces can go inside. We can distinguish two sorts of penne: penne liscie (smooth) and penne rigate (furrowed). The Italians usually recommend the latter because they have strips on the surface which absorb the sauce even better. Penne is traditionally served with sauces like pesto, marinara or arrabiata. One important thing…when you will be in Italy, pronounce penne with a clear double “n” and not with a single. Why? Because penne means pasta, but pene means penis, so pay attention to what you order :P. 

 Fusilli– type of pasta with a short, twisted shape. Fusilli is eaten especially in the South of Italy and it composes well with meat or ricotta which coiled around the sprung shape of noodles.

 

Tagliatelle- long, flat ribbons. The Italians eat tagiatelle with different sauces based on meat, like sausage, mushrooms and tomatoes. More exquisite dish is tagliatelle with truffle ;).

 

Farfalle – after translation - “butterflies” :D.  Pasta in the shape of bows which can be served also directly from the fridge and eaten like a dish on hot summer days. It tastes great with mozzarella, salmon, tomatoes and extra- virgin oil.

 

As you have seen, these few examples show that shape of pasta makes a difference. That is why, I invite you to put theory into practise and experiment in the kitchen. I’m certain that you will rediscover the tastes that maybe you had met before :).

 

P.S The answer to the riddle is…wop, in polish “makaroniarz”. It’s a bit sarcastic name so better don’t use it when you talk with the Italians. In the end…eating pasta every day it’s simply their custom which makes Italy unique country :).

 

See you next time!