12047 Pasta Shapes

Don't forget bike pasta
[IMG]http://dev1.boomersdomain.com/store_pedalinghistory_2/images/items/01731i.jpg[/IMG]

Each region has paricular shapes of pasta and sauces to go with. Here are some of my favourite combinations:

Tagliatelle (wide spaghetti) with salmon, cream and capers (Tagliatelle al salmone)
Trofie (thin, elongated gnocchi) from Liguria with the traditional pesto.
Ruote tricolore (three colour wheels) with any light sauce, specially for children
Orecchiette (little ears) from Puglia, with any ragu
Spaguetti con le Vongole (with clams) typical from Naples
Cavatieddi (small gnocchi) al sugo di maiale (with pork ragu) from Sicily
Without forgetting the "culurgioni" (large ravioli filled with potatoes and cheese from Sardinia) with a light tomato sauce.

There are so many "favourites" that I could go on and on for ages....

Hi Aunty P

I get the chance to ask 'How the b+gger do you eat Zitone?' (deCecco)
Its a bit like a full length penne (very careful with spelling here...) Yes, I know pop it in the mouth and chew... this is getting ....
Difficult with just about every sauce as most of the sauce ends up on the diner as the pasta has a mind of its own.

DeCecco seem to rate it as one of their specialità

[quote=Aretina;115016]Hi Aunty P

I get the chance to ask 'How the b+gger do you eat Zitone?' (deCecco)
Its a bit like a full length penne (very careful with spelling here...) Yes, I know pop it in the mouth and chew... this is getting ....
Difficult with just about every sauce as most of the sauce ends up on the diner as the pasta has a mind of its own.

DeCecco seem to rate it as one of their specialità[/quote]

Aretina, two things:

Firstly, you have illustrated exactly why you need the right pasta shape for the sauce. A sauce too heavy for a delicate pasta will end up on your blouse. A pasta too thick for the sauce will spray all over your 'diner':yes:.

Secondly, Zitoni pasta. It is actually custom [B]to break it into the length you require[/B]:yes:. Serve with chunky sauces. Zitoni comes from the word [I]zita[/I], meaning fiancée. Ziti pasta is the 'normal' size for this pasta, zitoni are fatter.

Auntie Pasta (Percy)
[I]Solutions for all Your Pasta Problems[/I]

The right sauce with the right pasta shape was taken so seriously by the Catholic church that in past times it was a sin to use farfalle with a fish sauce etc.

Then, when new shapes became available like radiatore the church could not decide on the correct sauce and at Vatican II all penalties for serving the wrong pasta with the wrong sauce were removed, So now it is just bad form …but you wont go to hell.

Don't forget that Britain contributed to the world of pasta shapes; not just Hoops and Rings, but some other "Sid James/Carry On" inspired ones:
[center][img]http://www.giftmonger.com/acatalog/penis-shaped-pasta-3.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.giftmonger.com/acatalog/boobs-shaped-pasta-3.jpg[/img][/center]

......a major contribution to the world of culinary experience!

Now, JC - let me think,it couldn't be Napoli could it?:winki:

[quote=juliancoll;115059]Lets turn this into a bit of a quiz and see who knows/remembers/can search out where the best Durum wheat originally came from?

The answer IS on the forum. :yes:[/quote]

You're the Super Sleuth, if I pay you will you PM me?:bigergrin:

Just about everything in my original post was correct, true and honest (as you would expect from Auntie P.:winki:). So long may the thread continue!

HOWEVER, she did indulge in one teeny weeny, small 'scherzo' on account of it being April 1st. Anyone spot it?

Surely it's got to be to do with 'sparrers tongues' - right?

Or as we call 'em 'Osèi' ...

[quote=Carole B;115075]Surely it's got to be to do with 'sparrers tongues' - right?

Or as we call 'em 'Osèi' ...[/quote]

Nope. But, you're in the right area of the post. Off you go again...:bigergrin:

[quote=tuscanhills;115053]Don't forget that Britain contributed to the world of pasta shapes; not just Hoops and Rings, but some other "Sid James/Carry On" inspired ones:
[CENTER][IMG]http://www.giftmonger.com/acatalog/penis-shaped-pasta-3.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://www.giftmonger.com/acatalog/boobs-shaped-pasta-3.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER]

......a major contribution to the world of culinary experience![/quote]

And pray, Tusks. Exactly what type of sauce do you recommend for these major contributors?:bigergrin:

[quote=juliancoll;115059]Lets turn this into a bit of a quiz and see who knows/remembers/can search out where the best Durum wheat originally came from?

The answer IS on the forum. :yes:[/quote]

Africa (this bit in brackets has been added 'cos Africa on its own was too short to be accepted by the system must have thought i was going to say %*xx!€:laughs:)

[quote=Persephone;115074]Just about everything in my original post was correct, true and honest (as you would expect from Auntie P.:winki:). So long may the thread continue!

HOWEVER, she did indulge in one teeny weeny, small 'scherzo' on account of it being April 1st. Anyone spot it?[/quote]

Yes (this bit in brackets has been added because "Yes" on its own is too short according to the system - must have thought i was going to say schnitzel) :laughs:

Pasta shapes! No-one has mentioned the one (ones?) which was surely my first experience of pasta - and which I still regularly see (but without purchasing) in Italian supermarkets - alfabeto.

The letters floating around in alphabet soup were, in 1950s UK, probably the only pasta appearing regularly in most people's diets. Apart, of course, from the Heinz tinned spaghetti used in that traditional English culinary delicacy, spaghetti-on-toast.

And a totally useless warning from a personal experience long ago:
do not start a holiday by leaning over the side of a cross-channel ferry in very rough weather, if you are wearing a hairy jumper and are downwind of someone who has eaten alphabet soup. You could spend days picking out all the little letters.

[quote=bosco;115100] And a totally useless warning from a personal experience long ago: do not start a holiday by leaning over the side of a cross-channel ferry in very rough weather, if you are wearing a hairy jumper and are downwind of someone who has eaten alphabet soup. You could spend days picking out all the little letters.[/quote]

Sound advice oh wise one, sound advice :yes:

I heard that durum wheat originated in Ethiopia and it was taken to Europe by Egyptian and Arab traders.
As for pasta shapes, here is a good list of varieties:
[url=http://www.archimedes-lab.org/pastashape.html]Edible Geometry (1)[/url]
Persephone, I haven't got a clue about your prank. Please tell us.

P.S. Just realised that this is post Nr 3000!!!!!! I'm a chatterbox!

[quote=Gala Placidia;115108]As for pasta shapes, here is a good list of varieties:
[URL="http://www.archimedes-lab.org/pastashape.html"]Edible Geometry (1)[/URL]
Persephone, I haven't got a clue about your prank. Please tell us.

P.S. Just realised that this is post Nr 3000!!!!!! I'm a chatterbox![/quote]

Gala, the forum needs chatter!!!!!:yes:. 4,000 by the end of the Spring please:wideeyed:.

You've even got Sally back from her late winter break, hurrah!!!:smile:

The [I]only [/I]pasta I invented (all the others, even the sparrows tongues, are real) was:

'Cavolfiore Mutandoni (cauliflower bloomers). Frilly pasta for pancetta, cream and cheese dishes.'

The 'frilly' pastas are relatively new in design and don't match up to the more traditional tried and tested shapes. Infact some of the first 'short shape' pastas were designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, [I]a car designer! [/I]The idea behind the frills was to scoop up as much sauce as possible.

Anyway, I did spot one in your useful 'Edible Geometry', called 'Ballerine'. They are said to give a strange sensation in the mouth.:smile:

Here is another (easy) looking BBC recipe, with another frilly one 'fiorelli'.[URL="http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/6976/fiorelli-with-broccoli-and-crisp-prosciutto"]Fiorelli with broccoli & crisp prosciutto recipe - Recipes - BBC Good Food[/URL]

There is a frilled variety called Gigli, which is not the one that appears in Edible Geometry. It is closer in shape to the "Ballerine", actually, they look like the bearded iris variety. I've seen them in three colours.
It is correct that each shape of pasta matches a certain sauce. They sort of enhance each other.
Also, the flour used to make the pasta may force you to use certain ingredients for the sauce. In a different thread I told everyone about my experiment with chestnut tagliatelle with a light duck and orange ragu.

Could you give me a link to the thread I can't seem to find it on a search.

Thank you.

Rolling boil (for pasta) :yes:

I thought that I'd posted something at lunchtime, but cannot find a trace of it. Blast.
Here is a brief version...
It's a thing of mine to remind people here (marche) WHO invented food. They laugh and sneer at the idea of meat on the same plate as vegetables covered with salsa. Pork and apple sauce? NO way! they cry. There is a tiny percentage who now believe (based on my story telling) that Marco Polo being a lazy and timorous Venetian, actually went to England rather than China. There, he learnt all about macaroni cheese and pudding, which both died a death here in warmer climes, although the pasta lived on until recent times. The idea of very baked pasta drowned in a milky cheesy sauce causes people to vacate the table at an indecent speed! Where is macaroni now? There are 50 different shapes in the shops here but macaroni? Has it been dumped by the EU? Is it now only fit for consumption outside of Italy?
I also persuaded a vet that tomatoes with that grilled crunchy topping are a north Kent speciality from the Napoleonic wars. Frenchies on the prison hulks of the Medway would eat their tomatoes with bread on top. A blacksmith's son, after stumbling on a runaway, showed the escapee how to toast food the right way up. After that the story becomes very long and rambling..Night night

[quote=Lollita;115119]Could you give me a link to the thread I can't seem to find it on a search.

Thank you.[/quote]

Here you are, Lollita

[url=http://www.archimedes-lab.org/pastashape.html]Edible Geometry (1)[/url]

Sicily is where they grow most of the durum wheat for pasta. It was introduced to Sicily whilst it was under Moroccan control.

The problem with Alphabet spaghetti is that coupled with the Italian superstition, if you stir a bowl of soup and it then reads ‘sod off’ it can really put you off your meal.

I am catching up on what I have missed whilst getting a culture fix in Firenze. I have learnt to cook pasta, what ever its shape, in the usual large pan of boiling, salted water. Boil without lid for 2 mins. Turn off heat. Place lid on top of pan and leave the pasta for the cooking time it says on the packet or a bit less if you like it really al dente.

[quote=Nielo;115144]Sicily is where they grow most of the durum wheat for pasta. It was introduced to Sicily whilst it was under Moroccan control.

The problem with Alphabet spaghetti is that coupled with the Italian superstition, if you stir a bowl of soup and it then reads ‘sod off’ it can really put you off your meal.[/quote]

I think that it also grows very well in Puglia. Besides the Ethiopian origin theory, most knowledgeable people say that it could also come from the southern Meditarranean basin. As you said, Nielo, the Arabs had a lot to do with the introduction of durum wheat in certain areas of Europe.

[quote=juliancoll;115192]Here you will find the answer.

[B][url]http://www.italymag.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=2971&referrerid=4248[/url][/B]
:[/quote]
What an odd thread- all the participants seem to have been deactivated?