Editing Pasta (section)

==History==
[[File:6-alimenti, pasta,Taccuino Sanitatis, Casanatense 4182..jpg|thumb|Making pasta; illustration from the 15th-century edition of {{lang|la|[[Tacuinum Sanitatis]]}}, a Latin translation of the [[Arabic]] work {{transliteration|ar|Taqwīm al-sihha}} by [[Ibn Butlan]]<ref name=Watson>Watson, Andrew M (1983). ''Agricultural innovation in the early Islamic world''. New York: [[Cambridge University Press]]. p. 22–23</ref>]]
Evidence of [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscans]] making pasta dates back to 400 BCE.<ref name="Hatchett-2008" /> The first concrete information on pasta products in [[Italy in the Middle Ages|Italy]] dates to the 13th or 14th centuries.{{sfn|Serventi|Sabban|2002|page=10}}
In the 1st-century{{dubious|date=September 2023}} writings of [[Horace]], {{lang|la|[[lagana (dough)|lagana]]}} ({{singular}}: {{lang|la|laganum}}) were fine sheets of fried dough{{sfn|Serventi|Sabban|2002|page=24}} and were an everyday foodstuff.{{sfn|Serventi|Sabban|2002|pages=15–16}} Writing in the 2nd century, [[Athenaeus|Athenaeus of Naucratis]] provides a recipe for {{lang|la|lagana}} which he attributes to the 1st-century Chrysippus of Tyana: sheets of dough made of wheat flour and the juice of crushed lettuce, then flavored with spices and deep-fried in oil.{{sfn|Serventi|Sabban|2002|pages=15–16}} An early 5th-century cookbook describes a dish called {{lang|la|lagana}} that consisted of layers of dough with meat stuffing, an ancestor of modern-day [[lasagna]].{{sfn|Serventi|Sabban|2002|pages=15–16}} However, the method of cooking these sheets of dough does not correspond to the modern definition of either a fresh or dry pasta product, which only had similar basic ingredients and perhaps the shape.{{sfn|Serventi|Sabban|2002|pages=15–16}}

Historians have noted several lexical milestones relevant to pasta, none of which changes these basic characteristics. For example, the works of the 2nd-century Greek physician [[Galen]] mention {{transliteration|grc|itrion}}, homogeneous compounds made of flour and water.{{sfn|Serventi|Sabban|2002|page=17}} The [[Jerusalem Talmud]] records that {{transliteration|grc|itrium}}, a kind of boiled dough,{{sfn|Serventi|Sabban|2002|page=17}} was common in [[Syria Palaestina|Palestine]] from the 3rd to 5th centuries.{{sfn|Serventi|Sabban|2002|page=29}} A dictionary compiled by the 9th-century Arab physician and lexicographer [[Isho bar Ali]]<ref>"A medical text in Arabic written by a Jewish doctor living in Tunisia in the early 900s", according to {{cite book|ref=Dickie|author=Dickie, John |year=2008|title=Delizia! The Epic History of Italians and Their Food|publisher=Simon and Schuster|place= New York|pages=21 ff|isbn=978-1416554004}}</ref> defines {{transliteration|ar|itriyya}}, the Arabic cognate, as string-like shapes made of [[semolina]] and dried before cooking. 

The geographical text of [[Muhammad al-Idrisi]], compiled for the [[Norman king of Sicily]] [[Roger II of Sicily|Roger II]] in 1154, mentions {{transliteration|ar|itriyya}} manufactured and exported from [[Norman Sicily]]:

{{blockquote|West of Termini there is a delightful settlement called Trabia [along the [[Sicily|Sicilian]] coast east of [[Palermo]]]. Its ever-flowing streams propel a number of mills. Here there are huge buildings in the countryside where they make vast quantities of {{transliteration|ar|itriyya}} which is exported everywhere: to [[Calabria]], to Muslim and Christian countries. Very many shiploads are sent.<ref>Quoted in [[#Dickie|Dickie]], p. 21.</ref>}}

One form of {{transliteration|ar|itriyya}} with a long history is {{lang|la|lagana}}, which in Latin refers to thin sheets of dough,{{sfn|Serventi|Sabban|2002|pages=15–16}} and gave rise to the Italian {{lang|it|lasagna}}.
[[File:Moser Spaghetti essender Junge.jpg|thumb|''Boy with Spaghetti'' by Julius Moser, {{circa|1808}}]]
[[File:Napoli - Negozio di prodotti tipici Campani.jpg|thumb|Typical products shop in [[Naples]], Italy, with pasta on display]]
[[File:Sommer, Giorgio (1834-1914) - n. 9129 - Palermo - Fabbrica di maccheroni.jpg|thumb|Macaroni factory, [[Palermo]], Italy]]

In [[North Africa]], a food similar to pasta, known as [[couscous]], has been eaten for centuries. However, it lacks the distinguishing malleable nature of pasta, couscous being more akin to droplets of dough. At first, dry pasta was a luxury item in Italy because of high labor costs; durum wheat semolina had to be kneaded for a long time.

There is a legend of [[Marco Polo]] importing pasta from [[Yuan dynasty|China]]<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110726174114/http://www.ilovepasta.org/faqs.html "Who "invented" pasta?"]}}. [[National Pasta Association]]: "The story that it was Marco Polo who imported noodles to Italy and thereby gave birth to the country's pasta culture is the most pervasive myth in the history of Italian food." ([[#Dickie|Dickie]], page 48).</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9QWUJEelIxYw/episode/NTVhNTQ1NDAtNTI1Ni0xMWVlLWExYmItMjNiMjM1ZDM2YzZj?sa=X&ved=0CCIQz4EHahcKEwiYub-C5amBAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ | title=The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg - I, Nacho }}</ref> which originated with the ''[[National Pasta Association#Publications|Macaroni Journal]]'', published by an association of food industries with the goal of promoting pasta in the United States.{{sfn|Serventi|Sabban|2002|pages=}} [[Rustichello da Pisa]] writes in his ''[[The Travels of Marco Polo|Travels]]'' that Marco Polo described a food similar to {{lang|la|lagana}}. The way pasta reached Europe is unknown, however there are many theories, <ref>[https://www.pbs.org/food/the-history-kitchen/uncover-the-history-of-pasta/#:~:text=Archaeologists%20believe%20that%20central%20Asia,early%20forms%20of%20pasta%20westward. Uncover The History of Pasta]</ref> [[Jeffrey Steingarten]] asserts that Moors introduced pasta in the [[Emirate of Sicily]] in the ninth century, mentioning also that traces of pasta have been found in ancient Greece and that [[Jane Grigson]] believed the Marco Polo story to have originated in the 1920s or 1930s in an advertisement for a Canadian spaghetti company.<ref>{{cite book|author=Jeffrey Steingarten|title=The Man Who Ate Everything|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T33d0IIwwaQC|year=1998|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-375-70202-0|page=260}}</ref>

Food historians estimate that the dish probably took hold in Italy as a result of extensive Mediterranean trading in the Middle Ages. From the 13th century, references to pasta dishes—macaroni, ravioli, gnocchi, vermicelli—crop up with increasing frequency across the Italian peninsula.<ref name="nationalgeographic">{{cite magazine |last1=López |first1=Alfonso |title=The Twisted History of Pasta |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/magazine/2016/07-08/daily-life-pasta-italy-neapolitan-diet/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214163410/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/magazine/2016/07-08/daily-life-pasta-italy-neapolitan-diet/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 December 2019 |access-date=18 December 2019 |magazine=National Geographic |date=8 July 2016}}</ref> In the 14th-century writer Boccaccio's collection of earthy tales, ''[[The Decameron]]'', he recounts a mouthwatering fantasy concerning a mountain of [[Parmesan|Parmesan cheese]] down which pasta chefs roll macaroni and ravioli to gluttons waiting below.<ref name="nationalgeographic"/>

In the 14th and 15th centuries, dried pasta became popular for its easy storage. This allowed people to store pasta on ships when exploring the New World.<ref name="Diana Viola">{{cite web|last=Walker |first=Margaret E. |title=The History of Pasta |url=http://www.inmamaskitchen.com/FOOD_IS_ART/pasta/historypasta.html |publisher=inmamaskitchen |access-date=24 March 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331135946/http://www.inmamaskitchen.com/FOOD_IS_ART/pasta/historypasta.html |archive-date=31 March 2012}}</ref> A century later, pasta was present around the globe during the voyages of discovery.<ref name="Demetri">{{cite web|last=Demetri|first=Justin|title=History of pasta|url=http://www.lifeinitaly.com/food/pasta-history.asp|publisher=lifeinitaly|access-date=24 March 2012|archive-date=23 July 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723190531/http://www.lifeinitaly.com/food/pasta-history.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Although [[Tomato#History|tomatoes]] were introduced to Italy in the 16th century and incorporated in Italian cuisine in the 17th century, description of the first Italian tomato sauces dates from the late 18th century: the first written record of pasta with tomato sauce can be found in the 1790 cookbook {{lang|it|L'Apicio Moderno}} by Roman chef [[Francesco Leonardi (chef)|Francesco Leonardi]].<ref>{{cite book
 | last=Faccioli | first= Emilio | title=L'Arte della cucina in Italia | publisher= Einaudi
 | location = Milan | year=1987 | language=it|page=756}} The ''culí di pomodoro'' recipe is in the chapter devoted to Leonardi.</ref> Before tomato sauce was introduced, pasta was eaten dry with the fingers; the liquid sauce demanded the use of a fork.<ref name="Diana Viola"/>

===History of manufacturing===
At the beginning of the 17th century, [[Kingdom of Naples|Naples]] had rudimentary machines for producing pasta, later establishing the [[kneading]] machine and press, making pasta manufacturing cost-effective.<ref name="something-else">{{cite web |title=History of pasta |url=http://www.internationalpasta.org/index.aspx?id=6 |publisher=International Pasta Organisation |access-date=18 November 2018 |date=2018 |archive-date=19 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119010704/http://www.internationalpasta.org/index.aspx?id=6 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1740, a license for the first pasta factory was issued in [[Republic of Venice|Venice]].<ref name=something-else/> During the 1800s, [[watermill]]s and [[Mill (grinding)|stone grinders]] were used to separate semolina from the bran, initiating expansion of the pasta market.<ref name=something-else/> In 1859, Joseph Topits (1824−1876) founded Hungary's first pasta factory, in the city of [[Pest, Hungary|Pest]], which worked with steam machines; it was one of the first pasta factories in Central Europe.<ref name="tésztáklexikona">{{cite web|url=https://ujgastrovatmagazin.eoldal.hu/cikkek/a-tesztak-lexikonja/kifott-tesztak/a-tesztak-lexikonja---tesztatortenelem---kifott-tesztak-3..html|title=A TÉSZTÁK LEXIKONJA - TÉSZTATÖRTÉNELEM - KIFŐTT TÉSZTÁK 3. 2017.01.02 (visited - 2019. January 3.)|language=hu|access-date=3 January 2019|archive-date=3 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190103210656/https://ujgastrovatmagazin.eoldal.hu/cikkek/a-tesztak-lexikonja/kifott-tesztak/a-tesztak-lexikonja---tesztatortenelem---kifott-tesztak-3..html|url-status=dead}}</ref> By 1867, [[Buitoni]] Company in [[Sansepolcro]], Tuscany, was an established pasta manufacturer.<ref>{{cite web|title=The History of Pasta: It's not what you think!|url=http://www.pasta-recipes-by-italians.com/history-of-pasta.html|publisher=Pasta Recipes by Italians|access-date=26 March 2012}}</ref> During the early 1900s, artificial drying and [[extrusion]] processes enabled greater variety of pasta preparation and larger volumes for export, beginning a period called "The Industry of Pasta".<ref name=something-else/><ref>{{cite web |author1=Justin Demetri |title=History of pasta |url=https://www.lifeinitaly.com/food/history-of-pasta |publisher=Life in Italy |access-date=18 November 2018 |date=10 May 2018}}</ref> In 1884, the Zátka Brothers's plant in Boršov nad Vltavou was founded, making it Bohemia's first pasta factory.<ref name="praharadio">{{cite web|url=https://www.radio.cz/en/section/panorama/the-oldest-czech-pasta-plant-relies-on-traditional-taste-of-its-customers|title=Radio Praha - THE OLDEST CZECH PASTA PLANT RELIES ON TRADITIONAL TASTE OF ITS CUSTOMERS (visited - 2019. January 3.)|date=11 September 2008}}</ref>

===In modern times===
The art of pasta making and the devotion to the food as a whole has evolved since pasta was first conceptualized. In 2008, it was estimated that Italians ate over {{cvt|60|lb|kg|order=flip}} of pasta per person, per year, easily beating Americans, who ate about {{cvt|20|lb|kg|0|order=flip}} per person.<ref name="lifeinitaly.com">{{cite web|last=Demetri|first=Justin|title=History of Pasta|url=http://www.lifeinitaly.com/food/pasta-history.asp|access-date=29 March 2012|archive-date=23 July 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723190531/http://www.lifeinitaly.com/food/pasta-history.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref> Pasta is so beloved in Italy that individual consumption exceeds the average production of wheat of the country; thus, Italy frequently imports wheat for pasta making. In contemporary society, pasta is ubiquitous and there is a variety of types in local supermarkets, in many countries. With the worldwide demand for this staple food, pasta is now largely mass-produced in factories and only a tiny proportion is crafted by hand.<ref name="lifeinitaly.com"/>