We love pasta!
Pasta, which we come across everywhere, in all restaurants, on tables or in student houses, has been both a familiar and a brand new flavour for our taste buds in the past. You might have guessed why it has been familiar. Noodles, which have been handcrafted in houses since ancient times, are an important part of Turkish cuisine culture.
As the first pasta factory was established in İzmir in 1922, we start adopting pasta and consuming frequently with a familiarity that comes from noodles. In the following years, the fact that durum wheat used in pasta production being abundantly cultivated in Türkiye enabled Türkiye to be considerably effective in terms of pasta production. In our day, plenty of types of pasta are cooked in various flavours all over Türkiye!
Let’s go on a delicious journey: History of Pasta
Let’s start telling about the history of pasta with interesting information. If we ask the question “Who found pasta?”, most probably most of the answers will be the Italians. But the truth is that there is no clear information for the first finders although various researches have been made for a long time about the community that found pasta. Archaeological excavations and historical sources say that the history of pasta dates back to the Ancient Greeks and Romans. However, historical records also show that pasta was started to be produced in the form of barley noodles by the Chinese and Arabs in the years B.C.
When it was the 1200s, it is rumoured that the Italian traveller Marco Polo made a trip to China and took spaghetti to his country from there. Later on, thanks to its low cost production and its preparation with different ingredients in a delicious way, pasta is being consumed a lot in Italy. Moreover, the tradition of cooking Italian pasta that is called “al dente”, meaning “to the tooth,” emerges over time. As the 20th century approaches, with Italy starting to produce and export the highest quality pasta, pasta and Italy become no longer to be thought of apart from each other.
How was the World Pasta Day born?
It would be totally unfair if we define the foods and food culture only as nutrients that help fill our stomachs. For the future, we have to remember the importance of foods and appreciate them as necessary. There must have been other people who share this opinion, such that the first World Pasta Congress was held in 1995 in Rome by 40 pasta producers from all over the world to honour this deep-rooted and sophisticated flavour. At the congress, the idea of celebrating the World Pasta Day was expressed by Turkish Pasta Industrialists. Consequently, the World Pasta Day starts being celebrated every year in a different city in the world, in order to encourage people to eat pasta, to try different pasta recipes and to emphasise the place of pasta in the culinary culture!
When is the World Pasta Day?
World Pasta Day has been celebrated with many entertaining events on October 25, since 1998. In these events, the taste of pasta and its being a nutrient and sustainable food is particularly emphasised. In addition, the opinions of chefs and restaurants on pasta, their ways of interpretation, and the place of pasta among the world’s food trends are addressed within the scope of these events. On the World Pasta Day, you can also cook a nice dish of pasta, or search for the organisations held in Türkiye thereon, and celebrate this day in the most delicious way!
How many types of pasta are there in the world?
When we mention about the World Pasta Day, we must not skip the types of pasta! Tortellini, spaghetti, penne, ravioli, lasagne, gnocchi… As in our cuisine; fusilli, farfalle, bowtie, auger, noodles! All are uniquely delicious, all have their unique characteristic shapes. But indeed, all types of pasta are not limited to these. Even though these types are very commonly cooked at homes and restaurants, it is known that there are about 600 types of pasta in the world. Magnificent pastas, developed with the influence of different cuisines, meet sauces and are a source of happiness on tables both on special days and in daily meals!
