FUN FACTS ABOUT PASTA

FUN FACTS ABOUT PASTA

1. In 18th century England, macaroni was a synonym for perfection and excellence. That's why, for example, the feather in Yankee Doodle's cap was called "macaroni." In fact, the word "macaroni" means "dearest darlings" in Italian.

2. In the 13th century, the Pope set quality standards for pasta .

3. There are more than 600 pasta shapes produced worldwide.

4. In Italian, fettucine means ribbons; stelline means little stars; and capelli d'angelo means angel's hair.

5. Contrary to popular belief, Marco Polo did not discover pasta. The ancient Italians made pasta much like we do today. Although Marco Polo wrote about eating Chinese pasta at the court of Kubla Khan, he probably didn't introduce pasta to Italy. In fact, there's evidence suggesting the Etruscans made pasta as early as 400 B.C. The evidence lies in a bas-relief carving in a cave about 30 miles north of Rome. The carving depicts instruments for making pasta - rolling-out table, pastry wheel and flour bin. And further proof that Marco Polo didn't "discover" pasta is found in the will of Ponzio Baestone, a Genoan soldier who requested "bariscella peina de macarone" -a small basket of macaroni. His will is dated 1279, 16 years before Marco Polo returned from China.

6. Legend has it that noodles were first made by 13th century German bakers who fashioned dough into symbolic shapes, such as swords, birds and stars, which were baked and served as bread.

7. To cook one billion pounds of pasta, you would need 2,021,452,000 gallons of water -enough to fill nearly 75,000 Olympic-size swimming pools.

8. One billion pounds of pasta is about 212,595 miles of 16-ounce packages of spaghetti stacked end to end enough to circle the earth's equator nearly nine times.

9. The word "pasta" comes from the Italian for paste, meaning a combination of flour and water including the many forms of spaghetti, macaroni, and egg noodles. The term pasta has always been used on Italian restaurant menus to encompass all the various pasta offerings.

10. Thomas Jefferson is credited with introducing macaroni to the United States. He fell in love with a certain dish he sampled in Naples, then promptly ordered crates of "macaroni," along with a pasta-making machine, sent to the States.

11. The first American pasta factory was opened in Brooklyn, New York, in 1848, by a Frenchman named Antoine Zerega. Mr. Zerega managed the entire operation with just one horse in his basement to power the machinery. To dry his spaghetti, he placed strands of the pasta on the roof to dry in the sun.

12. Christopher Columbus, one of Italy's most famous pastaphiles, was born in October, National Pasta Month.