Pasta feast
Personally I find that no lunch or dinner is complete without a portion of carbs in it. But sometimes I tend to get bored with the regular roti and rice fare, and bread is more of a breakfast item. To break the monotony I incorporate pasta in my meals every now and then. I find pasta dishes easy to cook and quite versatile too. Depending on my mood I can douse it with a sauce or enjoy it in a salad.
While pasta is considered uniquely Italian, it is actually found in different versions the world over — Germany and Hungary have spätzle, Greece has orzo, and Poland has a pocket-like variety called pierogi.
The history of pasta is difficult to trace. Historians say the trail may go back as far as 3,500 years and travel through parts of Asia, Europe, the middle-East and Americas. On how it reached Italy — it is commonly believed Marco Polo introduced pasta to Italy from China during the 13th century. However, since the voyager’s original writing no longer exists, the account relies heavily on contributions by various authors and experts.
The word ‘pasta’ itself translates to “paste” in Italian, referring to the unleavened dough made from a combination of durum wheat flour and water or eggs.
Usually the term is used to describe the entire dish too (so that would mean pasta and the sauce it is mixed with). The high gluten content and low moisture content in durum wheat make it suitable for pasta production.
Gluten is a protein found in wheat that gives elasticity to dough, helping it rise. The dough is pressed into sheets and then cut into a variety of shapes before being cooked.
From when it is believed to have been first made, the pasta recipe hasn’t changed much. It is still made from simple ingredients — wheat and eggs — and processed in a simple way — just basic mixing.
Pasta can be of two kinds — fresh and dry. Initially all pasta starts out fresh. However fresh pasta is not inherently better than dried pasta, it is just different and is used according to the sauce being used in the dish. Dried pasta is popular for its long shelf life, making it ideal for long time storage in containers.
What fascinates me about this Italian staple, however, is the various shapes and sizes it comes in. Currently there are around 350 different shapes and varieties of dried pasta. Some of the popular ones are penne, fusilli, spaghetti, linguini, farfalle, macaroni among others. If made in Italy, by Italian law, dried pasta must be made with 100 per cent durum semolina flour and water, a practice followed worldwide. Coming back to the different shapes, these actually serve a good purpose.
By providing lots of surface area on this starchy food, these allow sauces to stick well making the entire dish tasty. Various shapes allow for the pasta to be cooked in different ways. These allow for stuffing, layering and offer versatility in recipe invention.
Given the versatility of the dish it can be cooked in a variety of ways. Some popular sauces used are creamy béchamel or tangy saucy tomato ones. You can eat a vegetarian one or add meat or fish you like. Some cooks use pasta quills to make soups and salads. So you can see that the possibilities are endless and it is up to the cook what he or she would like to create!