This early pasta was an ideal staple for Sicily and it easily spread to the mainland since durum wheat thrives in Italy’s climate. How these early dishes were served is not truly known, but many Sicilian pasta recipes still include typically middle eastern ingredients, such as raisins and cinnamon, which may be witness to original, medieval recipes. The modern word “macaroni” derives from the Sicilian term for kneading the dough with energy, as early pasta making was often a laborious, day-long process. Spaghetti (at the time called macaroni) drying in the streets of Naples, circa 1895 Today, the presence of Arabic people in the south of the peninsula during the Middle Ages is considered the most likely reason behind the diffusion of pasta. Like so much of southern Italian life, the Arabic invasions of the 8th century heavily influenced regional cuisine. The country will have to wait a few centuries for its most popular dish to make a further culinary leap forward. Ancient lagane had some similarities with modern pasta, but cannot be considered quite the same. However, this type of food, first mentioned in the 1st century AD, was not boiled, as it is usually done today, but oven-baked. There is indeed evidence of an Etrusco-Roman noodle made from the same durum wheat used to produce modern pasta: it was called “ lagane” (origin of the modern word for lasagna). The history of Pasta in Italy: drying pasta toward the beginning of 1900 Well, Marco Polo might have done amazing things on his journeys, but bringing pasta to Italy was not one of them: noodles were already there in Polo’s time. Some may have also learnt that Polo’s was not a discovery, but rather a rediscovery of a product once popular in Italy among the Etruscans and the Romans. What do you need to know about the history of Pasta in Italy? Many school children were taught that the Venetian merchant Marco Polo brought back pasta from his journeys to China (along with gelato, some believed…). The history of Pasta in Italy 19th century Maccaronaro selling pasta Unraveling the long and often complex history of this dish we have to look at its origins and some of the myths surrounding it. Unlike other ubiquitous Italian products like pizza and tomato sauce, which have a fairly recent history, pasta may have a much older pedigree, going back hundreds -if not thousands- of years. Pasta is an integral part of Italy’s food history. Wherever Italians immigrated they have brought their pasta along, so much so today it can be considered a staple of international cuisine. The history of pasta in Italy and all you need to know about pasta! or Nothing says Italy like its food, and nothing says Italian food like pasta.