The simplest rich food alternative - pasta

Monday, September 6, 2010
Güzin Yalın
guzin.yalin@hurriyet.com.tr
Delicious and nutritious pasta is very rich in variety. It can be a whole meal on its, as well it can be a very harmonious side dish
Of all the food alternatives available in the world, the one that somehow always pleases me is pasta. Not only is pasta simple delicious and nutritious, it is also very much open to creativity and is very rich in variety. It can be a whole meal on its own at times, while it is a very harmonious side dish at others.

There are different theories as to where the actual homeland of pasta is. According to one belief, Chinese were the first to produce it. Allegedly, the famous traveler Marco Polo brought it back to Europe from his voyage to China around 1290 A.D. Looking at the general lines of the Chinese cuisine today, one can easily see that this is a strong possibility. However, some other sources state the assumption that as most other aspects of civilization, pasta came into life in the Jordan Valley in Mesopotamia for the first time. Taking into account the fact that this area is the homeland of wheat, this assumption also seems rather close to reality.

On the other hand, it is the Etruscans whose civilization has first yielded equipment for making pasta in archaeological excavations. It is even claimed that the word “lagana,” which scientists have come across in writings found among the Etruscan remains, is most probably the Roman name for one of the most popular dishes of today’s Italian cuisine, the lasagna. In other words, it is very probable that at the time that Marco Polo was making his first introductions in China, the Italians were already very well acquainted with pasta; which brings me to believe that pasta came into being independently at different parts of the world at around the same time.

The pasta I have been talking about until this point is what we call “fresh pasta” today. That is, pasta cooked while it is still wet dough. However, the major part of pasta consumption in the world today is the consumption of “dried pasta,” like the packaged pasta we buy at the grocer’s. History tells us definitely that the people to first produce this type of pasta were the Arabs. However, even though we know that it was the Arabs who first thought of drying the pasta before cooking it, we don’t exactly know how that pasta dough was made. The ingredients of fresh pasta and dried pasta are quite different today. Fresh pasta is made of flour and eggs, while dried pasta is a product of semolina, water and salt. This is actually where the name “fresh pasta” comes from because this type of pasta is supposed to be consumed immediately since it cannot last long due to its egg content. This type of pasta is also known as “home-style pasta” because is does not require any special processing; it can easily be produced at home. The “erişte” of the Turkish cuisine is one of the best examples of homemade fresh pasta.

All the pasta mentioned up to here is plain boiled pasta without any sauce. Pasta sauce apparently didn’t occur to people until the 1800s! Until then, it was only salt and maybe sometimes some butter or olive oil with which they tried to add flavor to their pasta dishes. The variety of sauces was increased eventually from this humble point to much more exciting flavors with the addition of new ingredients. The recipe for most of these sauces such as the Neapolitan (tomato sauce), the Bolognese (ragu sauce), the Alfredo (cream sauce), the Al Tonno (tuna fish sauce), or the Primavera (vegetable sauce) came from Italian cuisine.

The most widely used technique for cooking pasta is the classic Italian technique where the pasta is drained after being boiled. With this method, Italians usually prefer to leave the pasta “al dente.” In a second method, which we can call the “Turkish method,” the pasta is not drained but left to cook until all its water has evaporated. The best example to pasta thus cooked is the Turkish “mantı.”

I feel I have to answer a question that definitely must have come to your mind after such a long discussion of pasta: No, pasta is not as fattening as it is accused of being! What makes you gain weight for eating pasta is the oil and butter in the sauce.