pasta — Food

~terry Sun, Oct 30, 2005 (17:05) seed

Popular legend has it that Marco Polo introduced pasta to Italy following his exploration of the Far East in the late 13th century; however, we can trace pasta back as far as the fourth century B.C., where an Etruscan tomb showed a group of natives making what appears to be pasta. The Chinese were making a noodle-like food as early as 3000 B.C. And Greek mythology suggests that the Greek God Vulcan invented a device that made strings of dough (the first spaghetti!). Pasta made its way to the New World through the English, who discovered it while touring Italy. Colonists brought to America the English practice of cooking noodles at least one half hour, then smothering them with cream sauce and cheese. But it was Thomas Jefferson who is credited with bringing the first "maccaroni" machine to America in 1789 when he returned home after serving as ambassador to France. The first industrial pasta factory in America was built in Brooklyn in 1848 by, of all people, a Frenchman, who spread his spaghetti strands on the roof to dry in the sunshine. from http://www.ilovepasta.org/faqs.html#Q3 which is the faq on the website of the American Pasta Assn.

~terry Sun, Oct 30, 2005 (17:05) #1

Third World Pasta Congress Barcelona, Spain October 23-25, 2005 www.pastaworldcongress.com We missed it this year!

~terry Sun, Oct 30, 2005 (17:07) #2

Man, does this look good! Tangy Pear 'N Pecan Noodle Salad Serves 8 # 12 oz. Medium or Wide Egg Noodles, uncooked # 1/2 cup fresh orange juice # 4 tbsp. balsamic vinegar # 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice # 1 garlic clove, minced # 1 tbsp. orange zest # 1 tbsp. vegetable or olive oil # Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste # 16 oz. spinach, stems removed and rinsed, cut into 1-inch crosswise strips # 4 pears (red or green, or mixed), cored and sliced, leaving peel on # 1/2 cup golden raisins # from http://www.ilovepasta.org/recipes/Pear_Pecan_Noodle_Salad.html

~wolf Sun, Oct 30, 2005 (19:50) #3

cheryl found an article about pasta being found in china (like, mummified pasta)....it was in a bowl and everything!

~terry Mon, Oct 31, 2005 (13:50) #4

Now, that's old.

~wolf Mon, Oct 31, 2005 (21:33) #5

yeah, but what was the pasta made out of that it kept so well? guess it really does stick to the inside of your ribs!

~terry Mon, Oct 31, 2005 (22:26) #6

for thousands of years.

~CherylB Wed, Nov 2, 2005 (10:02) #7

The noodles were made from millet. I don't think that was what mummified them. Mmm, maybe they'll have to do some futher chemical analysis on those venerable noodles. I know Marcia thought the 4,000 year old noodles were off-putting, especially scary when considered with 100 year old or 1,000 year old eggs. Thanks, Terry, for the adding a pasta topic -- and the great pasta facts at the top of the topic. Thanks, too, for the pear and pecan noodle salad, it looks great.

~terry Thu, Nov 3, 2005 (04:35) #8

Doesn't it look great? Wonder how it tastes. Only one way to find out right?

~terry Mon, Nov 7, 2005 (22:18) #9

"The remains of the world's oldest noodles have been unearthed in China. The 50cm-long, yellow strands were found in a pot that had probably been buried during a catastrophic flood. Radiocarbon dating of the material taken from the Lajia archaeological site on the Yellow River indicates the food was about 4,000 years old. Scientists tell the journal Nature that the noodles were made using grains from millet grass - unlike modern noodles, which are made with wheat flour. The discovery goes a long way to settling the old argument over who first created the string-like food. " more at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4335160.stm also see http://www.venganza.org/index.htm

~terry Mon, Nov 7, 2005 (22:44) #10

The last is a counter evolution theory that the universe was created by a flying spaghetti monster.

~MarciaH Sun, Nov 13, 2005 (18:08) #11

In Hawaii one eats hot saimin at baseball games instead of hot dogs or coffee when it is cold. I love that stuff and miss having some in the cupboard ready whenever I want some. It is like what we know as Cup-of-Soup but is so much tastier. Now I am even hungrier for it. Yah, bad, those ancient noodles and more than a little dirty. I've seen working archaeologist hands and no mother would allow them near the noodles ! *;)

~MarciaH Sun, Nov 13, 2005 (18:10) #12

Pasta salads are surprisingly delicious. That one with pears and peas does look tasty but the sauce ie everything. Now, I really am hungry!

~terry Sun, Nov 13, 2005 (21:08) #13

saiman? saiman? Did you say saiman? You're just going to drop that word on us and run? What, er, ah, is, uh, *saimin*?

~MarciaH Sun, Nov 13, 2005 (22:06) #14

Saimin is a wheat noodle (about like angel hair pasta in diameter) which has a rich broth of (brace yourself - it tastes far better than it sounds) dried shrimp and fish stock (but some add chicken stock to mute the fishy taste). It all comes dried which cooks in the micro in about 3 minutes. Garnish with spam, green onion, char siu, scrambled eggs or kamaboku (fish cake). It really is good - much better than it sounds. Saimin broth stock comes like bullion cubes and is added to the hot noodle water after cooking. It is like daishi (I think that is the right spelling) with which you make the broth for miso soup.

~terry Thu, Nov 17, 2005 (17:47) #15

And where do I obtain this wondrous stuff? Big box store or health food store or oriental market?

~MarciaH Thu, Nov 17, 2005 (20:34) #16

I fear it was concocted by Hawaiians of oriental extraction during their sugar cane harvesting days. As far as I know it is readily available everywhere in the islands. I'll look around the net for mail order etc. The dried stuff should ship as well as does pasta from Italy! Now I am curious. It is low cal and fills you up while warming you up. An excellent breakfast, as well as late night snack or just about any time you're hungry.

~terry Sat, Nov 19, 2005 (22:47) #17

I take it you've stocked up?

~MarciaH Sun, Nov 20, 2005 (16:08) #18

I talked with son about this since he is a local boy there. He buys Ramen by the caseload - he says it is almnost as goof. I've not had any since my last baseball game in Hilo. Like many other things, you have to eat it where it belongs or it doesn't taste as good. DB says it is like that for pizza, too.