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The shapes of good taste: from macaroni to marille
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"Pasta is architecture for the mouth": this is how historians summarize centuries of gastronomic culture; discovering that the infinite varieties of pasta shapes are the most sensual way to explore different places, civilizations and cultures.
Every Italian region has adapted the ancient pasta recipe into their own styles and shapes that tradition, in turn, has often preserved untouched. They are little construction projects, either inspired by nature or simply invented, in which to rediscover the ways and flavours of the past. |
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The basic division of pasta is into two major categories: egg pastas (including all filled pastas such as ravioli or agnolotti) and hard-wheat semolina pastas. The latter are further subdivided into short pasta (Rigatoni, Penne, Sedani, etc.) and long pasta (Spaghetti, Bucatini, Vermicelli, etc.), either grooved or smooth. It is impossible to list the names of all the various forms of pasta, especially since the same shape could easily have a different name in a town ten miles away.
However, it is worth spending a few words about classic "maccheroni". This term, of uncertain origins, referred to any shape of pasta, long or short. It was only in the second half of the 1400s that the term came to mean a tube-shape. Throughout the 1800s, however, "maccheroni" kept being used for long shapes of pasta, and, even today, in some areas of Southern Italy, this name is given to thin Tagliolini produced using special devices.
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The first type of pasta we are likely to encounter on our voyage is Gnocchi, along with all those shapes that can be formed with bare hands: for example Orecchiette from Puglia, Trofie from Recco, and Strozzapreti from Lazio and Umbria.
With the "discovery" of thin pasta, obtained by rolling out the dough, comes the first Lasagna ("lągane") and, with reference to the cut used to create strips of pasta of varying width, "Tagliatelle" (literally "little cuts") and its derivatives: Tagliolini, Taglierini, Fettuccine(called piccage in Ligurian dialect) and Pappardelle.
Farfalle (which in the Emilia area are called "strichetti" (little squeezes, because they are pinched in the centre to form the shape) and Garganelli, similar to Penne Rigate, which were originally made by pressing a rectangle of pasta on a weaving comb and then rolling it around a rod, are also derived from sheeted pasta.
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The devices used to make certain types of pasta, for example "Passatelli Romagnoli", resemble a rudimentary extruder. The step from this point to mass production was quickly taken; all that was needed was the addition of a mechanical press. The over 200 varieties of pasta shapes offered by pasta makers were obtained by simply replacing the disc from which the pasta was extruded. Changing the shape of the holes made in these discs made it possible to follow even the most whimsical of trends.
Among long pastas we find Vermicelli and Spaghetti (which were once synonyms) in all their various sizes; from Vermicellini to Spaghettoni. Then we have Angel Hair pasta; extremely thin spaghetti used in broth which, in Liguria, are called "capelvenere" (hair of Venus); and Bucatini, Roman derivative of the Neapolitan "perciatelli" (whose name derives from "pertuso", meaning "hole").
Also of Neapolitan origin are Ziti, oversized tubular pasta which must be quartered before cooking.In the category of short pasta, from macaroni on, we find Penne ("Rigate", or "Lisce",) characterized by their oblique cut; Sedani and Sedanini, Rigatoni and Neapolitan Tortiglioni; Mezze Maniche (literally "half sleeves") from Central and Northern Italy, known also as "maniche di frate" (priest's sleeves) and Pipe Rigate, also from the same area.
Sometimes pasta shapes were renamed to commemorate a historical event. This is the case with Mafaldine or Reginette, wide noodles with ruffled edges, made in honour of Mafalda di Savoia, and the "Garibaldini" of the late 1800s (to commemorate Giuseppe Garibaldi) which were simple ribbed ditalini; and who can forget the radiator, wheel and flying saucer shapes of the 1950s.
In the past the list of "pastine" (for broth) was much more extensive than it is today. Stelline, anellini, risoni, and quadrucci are still common, but the alphabet and animal shapes have been left behind, while corallini have reverted to their original name after being called avemarie (Hail Marys) for a long time or paternostri (Our Father) due to their shape resembling rosary beads.
The 1980s saw the invention of a new shape, brainchild of Turin's designer Giorgetto Giugiaro: Marille, who rapidly earn press recognition. Barilla has, on the other hand, commissioned Parma's foremost extrusion expert Carlo Mori to create a new series of shapes including Bifore (which, in profile, form the Barilla "B"), Trifogli (Spaghetti with three channels cut into them) and Castellane (grooved Shells designed to be used with cheese or vegetable sauces).
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