Ramen, Reshte and Rigatoni

Whether it’s Ramen from Japan, Reshte from Afghanistan or Rigatoni from Italy, pasta is universally loved by all cultures today.  Whether eaten alone as a noodle dish or combined with other ingredients to make a pasta dish, this simple item can satisfy by itself or with many flavor combinations.  In the 18^th century, the popularity of noodles is debatable.  We have several recipes for it in period cookbooks but no real reference to its regular consumption outside of Italy or China.   

 

The story that you may have heard about Marco Polo bringing pasta from China to Italy is a complete myth.  Because many people did not have access to an oven, noodles are one of many dishes created by necessity since using an oven wasn’t necessary in their preparation.  Some of the other examples of culinary dishes that did not require oven use are dumplings, boiled puddings and sausage.  The earliest record of noodles comes from China.  Then, records show movement westward from China to Arab Lands.  From there, merchants most likely helped them spread through Europe.  The first reference to pasta in Italy is around the 1^st century B.C. and is a reference to a fried, thin dough called “lagana”.  Later in the 5^th century, another recipe for “lagana” calls for you to layer noodles and meat, a possible forerunner to modern day lasagna. 

 Making and Drying Pasta

Mid 15th Century

from Tacuinum Sanitatis

In the 14^th and 15^th centuries, dried pastas grew in popularity due to ease of storage.  In the 18^th century, we have recipes for dried thin pasta.  These thin, egg noodles were called “vermicelli” and recipes for them can be found in Hannah Glasse’s “The Art of Cookery” and Mary Randolph’s “The Virginia Housewife”.  Hannah Glasse calls for a mixture of eggs and water to be rolled out as thinly as possible.  This is then to be dried in the sun or by the fire and when drying is complete, it is to be cut with a very sharp knife into pieces.  There are two recipes I have found that call for a noodle like this.  The first is a vermicelli soup that is made by putting vermicelli in a broth and boiling it.  It is then served with a piece of toast on top.  The second is a vermicelli pudding where you bake the vermicelli in custard.  It is very unlikely that the poor class of the American Colonies made their own noodles, if they were consuming noodles at all.  The main consumers of noodles in the 18^th century were the upper middle class and the gentry.

 

Hannah Glasse's Vermicelli Recipe

 

 

Vermicelli Soup

Hannah Glasse

The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy

 

The other pasta commonly recorded in 18^th century cookbooks was macaroni.  Piped macaroni to the 18^th century what truffles and caviar are to most of us today…out of reach due to the high cost.  Italy managed to keep how they made macaroni a secret.  For anyone else to enjoy macaroni or other extruded pasta, it had to be exported from Italy which made the price extremely high.  Only the very rich could afford macaroni or any dish made out of it.  Lord Dunmore, the last Royal Governor of Virginia, is recorded to have bought 20 pounds of macaroni when he was in office.  Macaroni pudding and Macaroni soup are the only recipes I have found in cookbooks using this expensive commodity.  Sometimes just called macaroni, it was made by layering macaroni noodles, butter and cheese.  It was then baked in the oven. This dish, that we now enjoy and call macaroni and cheese, was quite literally the very definition of high fashion and extravagance.  Macaroni was a term, in the 18^th century, that was also used to describe the proper fashion of the day. And when the British wrote a variation of the song “Yankee Doodle” and said “stuck a feather in his hat and called it macaroni”, they were actually insulting Colonial American fashion.  Thomas Jefferson himself had a particular taste for macaroni, bringing cases of macaroni back with him from France to enjoy at his home in Virginia.  We know that he was interested in the process of making extruded pasta and have the benefit of his drawings that lay out the mechanics for a macaroni press. 

 

Thomas Jefferson's Drawing of a Macaroni Press

Library of Congress

 

"The best maccaroni in Italy is made with a particular sort of flour called Semola, in Naples: but in almost every shop a different sort of flour is commonly used; for, provided the flour be of a good quality, & not ground extremely fine, it will always do very well. a paste is made with flour, water & less yeast than is used for making bread. this paste is then put, by little at a time, vir. about 5. or 6. tb each time into a round iron box ABC. the under part of which is perforated with holes, through which the paste, when pressed by the screw DEF, comes out, and forms the Maccaroni g.g.g. which, when sufficiently long, are cut & spread to dry. the screw is turned by a lever inserted into the hole K, of which there are 4. or 6. it is evident that on turning the screw one way, the cylindrical part F. which fits the iron box or mortar perfectly well, must press upon the paste and must force it out of the holes. LIM is a strong wooden frame, properly fastened to the wall, floor, and ceiling of the room."

Thomas Jefferson

A Modern Plastic Macaroni Mould

          Macaroni Soup

          Hannah Glasse

               The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy

 

Macaroni and Cheese Recipe

Mary Randolph

The Virginia Housewife

 

To me, it is interesting to study the food staples that have been around for centuries, and pasta has claimed its place as a culinary staple.  Its neutral flavor and versatility has elevated it from low class Chinese comfort food to high class culinary fair.  Whether you’re a starving college student eating ramen or a patron at a Michelin star restaurant, pasta is and will always be one of the many food loved by all.