Everything to know about the queen of the Italian kitchen

Information, suggestions, and fun facts about dry pasta

There are so many things to learn and know about pasta - a world full of history, stories, fun facts, anecdotes, and other things to learn, which may possibly be more enjoyed than this most celebrated dish of Italian cuisine.

We’d like to begin by reminding you that pasta is defined as the mixing together of wheat and water or eggs. Within this macro group of pasta, several smaller groups are defined: dry pasta, durum wheat semolina pasta, and fresh pasta, which can be made by soft wheat flour, durum wheat semolina, or a mixture of both. Gragnano pasta is the best possible example of dry pasta.

In Italy it is forbidden to make pasta with soft wheat flours (unless the pasta is destined solely for exportation); nonetheless, it is possible to sell dry pasta prepared with soft wheat flour in other countries in Italy. The quality of this pasta is severely affected, so be careful when purchasing pastas at the grocery store. Buy only high quality pastas, like those from the pasta craftsmen of Gragnano.

The use of high quality semolina with a higher protein content makes a pasta hold up better to cooking, but also has a more pleasing and intense taste.

Have you ever asked yourself why some pastas have a marked yellow color while others are whitish? The pasta becomes yellow if the plates used to cut the pasta are in Teflon and/or when the pasta is dried at high temperatures. Pasta remains whiter if it has been cut using bronze plates and then dried slowly, an exponent of quality.

Teflon plates have permitted pasta production times to be drastically reduced, and they also eliminate any defects in the pasta related to the poor quality of wheat used. As for bronze plates, they are certainly more difficult to work with and significantly slow down production, but if handled by competent pasta makers, they can give life to a much higher quality pasta than pastas cut with Teflon plates. These difficulties with bronze plates justify their higher prices.

Have you ever seen black or white spots on pasta? The white spots are signs of an imperfect drying of the pasta or of the presence of soft wheat flour. The black spots are vegetable fragments that shouldn’t be present in pasta at all.

Another important topic is the conservation of pasta – if not stored correctly, dry pasta can actually change. It must be kept in a dry and airy place, in containers that can protect them from parasites (especially in the hotter seasons).

These and many other secrets about the most well known symbol of Italian cuisine. Continue reading the Pastificio dei Campi website to discover much of interest.