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Foxy Facts: The History of Pasta Pasta is one of the world’s most available foods. Nearly every country has its own kind of this popular inexpensive food. When many of us think of pasta, we think of Italian food, but it actually has a very old history. Its almost impossible to know who came up with the first pasta dishes. Archeologists think that central Asia is most likely the first region to have produced noodles thousands of years ago. From Asia it traveled to the West. The way it reached Europe is not known, though there are many theories. Some believe that nomadic Arabs are responsible for bringing early forms of pasta westward. The word pasta translates to “paste” in Italian, which is a word that is used to describe traditional Italian noodles. There noodles were made from unleavened dough consisting of ground durum wheat and water or eggs. The use of durum wheat sets pasta apart from other forms of noodles. Its high gluten content and low moisture make it perfectly suited to pasta production. While we think of pasta as Italian food, it is likely the descendent of ancient Asian noodles. It is a common belief that pasta was brought to Italy from China by Marco Polo during the 13th century. In his book, he mentions a plant that produced flour (possibly a breadfruit tree). The Chinese used thus plant to create a flour simi- lar to barley flour. This flour Polo mentions was used to make several pasta dishes. The fact is that pasta, already popular in Italy during the 13th century, makes it un- likely Polo brought the pasta idea to Italy. Noodles existed in Asia long before Polo’s trip to China. Early Spanish settlers were among the first to bring pasta to America. Thomas Jefferson gave pasta a push into popularity from his stay in Paris from 1784 to 1789. He enjoyed a macaroni dish. He brought two cases of the pas- ta to America on his return.
During the late 19th century when a group of immigrants came from Italy to America ,pasta became a common food in the states. We have been making spaghetti in America ever since.
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