The History of Pasta and Lasagna

Nothing says Italy like its food, and nothing says Italian food like pasta. Wherever

Italians have immigrated they have brought pasta and today it is basically an international

staple. Unlike other ubiquitous Italian foods like Pizza and tomato sauce, which have a

fairly recent history, pasta may indeed have much older roots going back hundreds if not

thousands of years. To begin to unravel the long and often complex world of pasta we

have to look at its origins and some of the myths surrounding this now worldwide food.

Many believe that the Venetian merchant Marco Polo brought back pasta from his

journeys in China. Another version states that Polo’s discovery was actually a

rediscovery of a food that was once popular in Italy in Etruscan and Roman times. Well,

Marco Polo might have done amazing things on his journeys, but bringing pasta to Italy

was not one of them; it was already there in Polo's time. There is evidence of an Etrusco-

Roman noodle made from the same wheat as modern pasta that was called "lagane"

(origin of the modern word for lasagna). This food, first mentioned in the 1st century AD,

was not boiled like pasta, it was cooked in an oven.

Like so much of southern Italian life, the Arab invasions of the 8th century

heavily influenced the regional cuisine and is another theory for the introduction of pasta

into Italian life. The dried noodle-like product they introduced to Sicily is most likely the

origins of dried pasta and was being produced in great quantities in Palermo at this time.

The modern word "macaroni" is derived from the Sicilian term for making dough
forcefully, as early pasta making was often a laborious, daylong process. How it was

served is not known, but many Sicilian pasta recipes still include other Arab gastronomic

staples such as raisins and spices like cinnamon. This early pasta was an ideal nutritional

foundation for Sicily and it quickly spread to the mainland since wheat thrives in Italy's

climate. Italy is still a major producer of this hard wheat, used to make the all-important

semolina flour.

By the 1300's dried pasta was very popular for both its nutrition and long shelf

life, making it ideal for long ship voyages. Pasta made it around the globe during the

voyages of discovery a century later. By that time different shapes of pasta have appeared

and new technology made pasta easier to make. With these innovations pasta truly

became a part of Italian life. The next big advancement in the history of pasta would not

come until the 19th century when pasta met tomatoes.

Although tomatoes were brought back to Europe shortly after their discovery

in the New World, it took a long time for the plant to be considered edible. Tomatoes

are a member of the nightshade family and rumors of tomatoes being poisonous

continued in parts of Europe and its colonies until the mid 19th century (see

“nightshade poison”). Thus, it was not until 1839 that the first pasta recipe with

tomatoes was documented. Shortly thereafter tomatoes took hold and became

incredibly popular, especially in the south of Italy. The rest is delicious history.

It is estimated that Italians eat over sixty pounds of pasta per person, per

year. Americans eat about twenty pounds per person. Today pasta is everywhere

and can be found in dried (pasta secca) and fresh (pasta fresca) varieties depending

on what the recipes call for. The main problem with pasta today is the use of mass
production to fill an ever-growing worldwide demand. And while pasta is made

everywhere, the product from Italy keeps to time-tested production methods that

create a superior pasta.

How Old is Lasagna???

Around 197 BCE the once mighty Greek empire fell at the onslaught of the

Romans. This was largely in part due to the Romans advancements in weaponry,

combined with their ability to emulate their opponents’ tactics. When Greece was

successfully occupied, Rome quickly adopted their philosophy, religion, science and

mathematics, as well as its food and language. One of these newfound delicacies was

the idea of lasagna.

Conventional wisdom is that the term lasagna can be traced down to the

Greek word laganon, which was a flat sheet of dough cut into strips. This term is still

used in Greece to describe a thin flat type of bread. There is also lasanon, which

refers to a sort of ancient crock-pot (a large pot used for slow-cooking). The Romans

borrowed this word and turned it into lasanum, which also means a sort of cooking

pot. Therefore, the etymology of lasagna is believed to refer to the pot in which it

was cooked.

Another theory that helps tie modern lasagna to its ancestors comes from the

14th century English recipe called Loseyn. This recipe shares the similarities with

lasagna in its name as well as its ingredients being layered between pasta sheets.

The major difference is that tomatoes weren’t fully introduced to England until after

Columbus discovered America. The earliest English recipe featuring the tomato was
found in 1652. From there, European immigration brought the delicious pasta dish

to North America where it has continued to change and evolve into the versatile

dinner option we know and love today.

Vocabulary

Staple – a main component, a foundation

Ubiquitous – seemingly everywhere

To unravel – to untie, to untangle, to solve

Journey – an adventure, a voyage, long trip

Derived – composed of, made of, coming from

Edible – safe to eat

Onslaught – a fierce or destructive attack or assault

Emulate – to imitate or copy

Conventional wisdom – the most widely accepted belief

Dough - massa

Crock-pot – a large pot used to slowly cook food

Versatile – able to be adapted to many functions or activities