Food: The Wonderful World of Pasta

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The Wonderful World of Pasta
Saturday, September 10, 2005

The Atkins Company recently declared bankruptcy, giving carb lovers everywhere many a white flour filled, reason to celebrate. One specific forbidden food deserves a welcome home party for its re-entrance into the diets of the formerly carbohydrate phobic. Pasta, in all your glory, welcome back!
Pasta was born in Ancient times, first prepared by the Etruscans in Italy. The very first pasta dough was a simple combination of flour and water, named lagane, which is obviously very close to the meat and cheese layered pasta dish called lasagna. In the Italian language, the word pasta means paste, which is precisely what this very first pasta dough was; a paste of flour and water.
Since its inception into the diets is millions, pasta has changed and evolved. One fact about pasta that many food-lovers do not know is the difference between all of the different kinds of pasta noodles. There are countless varieties, and each different name signifies a different size and shape of noodle. Pasta noodles are grouped into different categories according to their shape; shaped pasta, tubular pasta, strand noodles, ribbon pasta noodles, micro pasta, and stuffed pasta. Within each different category can be large numbers of different types of pasta.
The shaped pasta is probably the largest category of pasta noodles. Campanelle is a pasta noodle shaped like cones. Caserecci is a short pasta noodle that basically looks like the letter S. Cavatelli, which is more of a common noodle, is pasta shaped like a small seashell with rolled-up edges. Conchigle, which literally translates to the word shell in Italian, is the larger shell-shaped noodle that is often stuffed with various cheeses, spinach, or meats on restaurant menus. Farfalle are the bow tie shaped pasta noodles. Farfallone are the same bow tie shape as farfalle, they are simply larger. A Fiori pasta noodle is a noodle shaped like a flower. Fusilli noodles are shaped like coils or springs. Lumache pasta noodles are shaped like a snail. Maltagliati noodles are flattened, and shaped like triangles. Orecchiette pasta is a very small noodle shaped like little bowls or ears. Radiatori pasta noodles are shaped like the thing their name resembles, a radiator. Rotini pasta, another classic, is pasta twisted into a spiral shape. Finally, Torchio pasta is a pasta noodle in the shape of a torch.
In the category of tubular pasta, there are almost as many types of noodles as there are in the shaped pasta category. Bucatini noodles are hollow strands of spaghetti. Cannelloni pasta noodles are larger, hollow tubes that can, and usually are stuffed with a number of delicious fillings. Chifferi noodles are both wide and short macaroni noodles. Elbow macaroni, which are very commonly used in non Italian dishes such as macaroni and cheese, are bent tubes of pasta. Elicoidali are tubes of pasta that are somewhat ribbed on the outsides. Garganelli noodles are short egg noodles that are rolled into the tube shape. Gomiti noodles are wide pasta noodles in the shape of the letter C. Penne pasta, one of the most popular noodles used in Americanized Italian cooking is a tube of medium length that has been cut diagonally on both ends. Variations of the penne noodle include the penne rigate, a penne noodle that has ridged sides; penne zita, a penne noodle that is wider than the traditional one; pennette, a shorter and thinner version of the penne noodle; and the pennoni, the wide version of the penne noodle. Rigatoni noodles, also popular in the United States, are a large noodle somewhat curved in shape. Ziti noodles, often included in the dish baked ziti are long, narrow tube noodle shaped like hoses.
In the strand noodle category of pasta noodles, there are not quite as many varieties as there are in the tubular and shaped noodle categories. Angel hair pasta are long, very thin strand noodles. Capellini noodles, though, are even thinner than angel hair strands, and are the thinnest of the spaghetti like noodles. Fusilli lunghi are a very long version of the fusilli noodle, which is in the shaped noodle category. The fusilli are shaped like corkscrews, thus the fusilli lunghi are very long corkscrew shaped noodles. Spaghetti noodles, possibly the favorite and most popular type of noodles often paired with meatballs, are long, thick and round strand noodles. Finally, vermicelli noodles are another variety of strand noodle that are the same shape as spaghetti, and will be thinner or thicker than spaghetti noodles depending where in Italy you are dining.
Another type of pasta noodle is called the strand noodle. In the strand noodle category, there are a variety of different types of noodles, some common, others quite rare in Americanized Italian cuisine. The fettuccine noodle, is often times seen in a dish called fettuccine alfredo made with parmesan cheese and heavy cream. This type of noodle is a ribbon noodle that measure about one centimeter across. Lasagna noodles, the very wide noodles with ridged sides, are used in the popular dish of the same name, and made with layers of sauce, meat and cheese. Pappardelle noodles are thick and flat ribbon noodles. Tagliatelle noodles are somewhat like fettuccine noodles, but are quite a bit thinner.
Finally, there are just a couple of types of stuffed pasta. Ravioli and tortellini are two of the most popular. Both can be stuffed with any type of filling from cheese, to Portobello mushrooms, to ground beef.
All in all, there are so many types of pasta noodles; it is difficult to keep them straight. Where for the most part, all these types of noodles taste the same, the textures and consistencies vary from noodle to noodle. If you taste different types of pasta noodles you may just discover which one is your favorite. Even for pasta fanatics, it is extremely difficult to keep all of the different shapes, sizes and kinds of pasta noodles straight. But learning just a couple of the less mainstream types and tasting them in a delicious pasta dish will certainly help you out on that next trip to Italy!

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