Although pasta is one of the most enjoyed meals in the world, there are some things you might not know about it.
For example, a lot of people associate the food with Italy, but did you know that, as early as 5,000 BC, people were already eating pasta in China? Yes. China.
Some facts about Pasta you might not know
- It is reported that Venetian merchant and explorer, Marco Polo, introduced Italy to pasta (especially spaghetti) in the 12th century
- The traditional way of cooking pasta is known as, Al dente; pasta that is cooked to be firm to the bite.
- Pasta had been eaten plain before tomato sauce came into the picture. This was so because tomatoes were not native to Europe and were not introduced to the continent until Spanish explorer Cortez brought tomatoes from Mexico to Europe in 1519.
- The most popular pastas are; penne, spaghetti and macaroni and
- Most pasta fall under two categories; fresh or dry.
- According to the International Pasta Organization, there are more than six hundred different shapes of pasta produced throughout the world.
- There are more than 1300 names for pasta
- October is the National Pasta month (America)
- Thomas Jefferson, the third President of United States is credited for introducing pasta to America in 1789.
- Italians consume the most pasta world over, as you would expect. Italy is closely followed by Venezuela and Tunisia.
- According to the International Pasta Organization, if Italians ate their average yearly amount of pasta in spaghetti shape, there would be approximately 600 million kilometers of spaghetti, enough noodles to wrap around the planet 15,000 times.
- Pasta was traditionally eaten by hand.
- The word “pasta” actually has its origins in Greek and Latin. It literally means, “barley porridge” in Greek and “dough party cake” in Latin. In Italian, however, it means, “paste” due to the way pasta is made primarily by mixing water and flour along with other ingredients, such as eggs and olive oil.
- Pasta was an intricate part of television’s very first April Fools Day hoax. Back on April 1st, 1957, the BBC aired a faux documentary that spaghetti grew on trees. Millions of gullible British viewers swallowed hook, line and sinker when they saw the bogus footage of women harvesting noodles from spaghetti trees in Switzerland.
- Pasta has been scientifically proven to make you happy. The carbohydrates in pasta increase the body’s production of serotonin, the neurotransmitter believed to trigger feelings of happiness and well-being.
