Anecdote - History and Folklore of Italian Pasta

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Interviewing many of Italy’s oldest citizens, Oretta Zanini de Vita captured the memories of an era quickly fading into history. Collecting the local nuances of ingredients and names, Oretta discovered many of the local and historical origins to the pastas of the country as a whole.

While some are based in concrete historical fact, others fall into the realm of Italian folklore. This is a small collection for you to keep and share with others.

anelletti 8

Inspired by the hoop earrings worn by African women during Italian military campaigns in Africa in the First World War, anelletti literally means little rings.

assabesi 10

In 1896, the Genoese Rubattino Shipping Company purchased the port of Assa on the Red Sea. Assabesi alludes to the name of the port.

ave maria 11

In Italy it was a common practice to recite prayers as a method of measuring the cooking time of pasta. Ave Maria, or Hail Mary, was the most common type of pasta in this regard, followed by the Paternoster, Our Father, and Gloria Patri, or Gloria. Together these three prayers make up the rosary.

candele 36

Candele refers to the long, thin candles commonly used in liturgical processions. Today candele are used to celebrate Corpus Domini, a major celebration in Catholicism that honors the Eucharist in a majestic procession throughout the streets of Italy’s major cities.

capelli d’angelo 40

Capelli d’Angelo were traditionally hand made my nuns in Rome during the 17th century. The pasta dough was rolled until it was thin enough to see through it to the steeple of the church before it was cut by hand. Believed to promote health and well being, this pasta was given to to new mothers or ailing members of important families because it was believed to promote health and well being.

cappellacci dei briganti 41

Cappellacci dei Briganti refers to the conical shaped hat that was part of the everyday uniform of the Briganti, a disorderly social and political movement active in the south during the Unification of Italy in the 1800s.

cappelletti 43

Cappelletti, literally small hats, refers to the special hats of the Alpini, or Alpine Troopers. The Alpini are the elite mountain warfare soldiers of the Italian Army. Historically they protected the northern borders against France and Austria, and today they are active in Afghanistan.

Traditionally, Cappelletti are served on Christmas day.

An old tradition called for making a special cappelletto much larger than the rest and stuffed with pepper that was served, as a joke, to the biggest glutton in the group.

chifferi 55

Chifferi derives from the word Kipfel, an Austrian sweet that has a similar shape. This pasta was common under the rule of the Grand Duchy of Parma, which ruled from the 14th century to the 19th century. Maria Luigia, the Dutchess of Parma, brought the famous crescent shape pastry from Vienna to commemorate the Austrian victory over the Turks in 1683.

conchiglie

61

Conchiglie, literally shell, serves as a representation of the deep connection to sea life in Italian food.

corzetti 66

Corzetti was documented as early as the 13 th century in the Renaissance courts where each piece was imprinted with the coat of arms of the Royal families and a stylized cross. Sometimes corzetti were stamped with geometrical or vegetal motifs, which referenced the celebrations they honored.

culingionis 70

Culingionis are most commonly found on the island of Sardinia, in the small town of Armungia, where they are served in celebration of Ferragosto and All Saints’ Day. Ferragosto is an Italian holiday held on August 15th to celebrate the middle of the summer and the end of the hard labor of the farmers.

farfalle 79

Farfalle, or butterfly, serves as a reminder of the many pastas that refer to the animal kingdom.

filindeu 90

Filindeu, literally veil of God, serves as a reference to the pasta’s extreme thinness. The term also derives from the ancient Sardinian word filu, or thread. This pasta is made for the feast of Saint Francis of Lula, where it is served as a restorative dish throughout the first week of May.

fusi istriani 99

Fusi Istrani is not technically an Italian pasta because it was developed across the border of Italy in Croatia.

However, Fusi Istrani represents the strong connection between Istria and Venice’s language and culture. Fusi Istrani is typically served on Easter as a celebratory dish.

fusilli 100

The arrival of fusilli was a result of the strong Muslim influence in Sicily and Sardinia, where the pasta was known dialectally as Busiata or Busa. The Arabic word bus refers to the thin reed originally used to wrap the dough around. In northern areas, fusillo pertains to the fuso - a spindle used in the same manner. However, both of these methods resulted in irregular length and thickness which was problematic for uniform cooking. In 1924 Guido and Aurelio Tanzi perfected a machine called a fusilla, which created perfectly uniform fusilli - a major technological advancement in pasta history because it allowed the pasta to cook more evenly.

In some areas of Italy it is still customary to toss a long fusillo in boiling water to tell the sex of a baby. If the pasta stands up straight, it will be a boy, and if it takes a horizontal position, a girl.

garganelli 101

Legend says that this pasta was first developed by a poor house-wife whose cat ate all of the filling for the tortellini she was making. The guests had already arrived, and she had already cut the pasta squares. In a moment of inspiration, she rolled the squares around a stick and then over the loom comb that Italians commonly used in creating indentations in pasta, and viola!

gasse 103

Gassa were cited as early as 1893 and reference the small knots that Genoese sailors used to hold a ring at the end of a sheet or line.

gigli 105

With technological advances in production methods, Italians were able to develop pastas that were more complex in shape. Gigli, meaning lilies, was not only developed for enjoyment, but for functionality. The twisted form allowed sauce to attach to the pasta more effectively, making it very popular among Italians.

lorighitta 133

Lorighitta is an unusual pasta traditionally used in the celebration of All Saint’s Day. The name refers to the leather ring placed under the yoke of an oxen called a loriga in Sardinian. Production of lorighitta is limited today because of the difficult preparation in making the pasta and the scarcity of ingredients.

mafalde

145

The practice of naming pasta after royalty was common in Italy after the House of Savoy gained power in the 12th century. Mafalde was created to honor the birth of Princess Mafalda, the daughter of Victor Emanuel III, the King of Italy from 1900 to 1946.

offelle 167

Offelle derives from the term Offa — the Roman spelt cake that was offered to the gods in Roman mythology.

Cerberus himself was put to sleep at the gates of hell with ‘Offa made sleepy with honey and drugged meal’. Today Offelle are typical at Carnivale celebrations.

orecchiette

168

Orecchiette, meaning little ears, first appeared in Italy in the mid-sixteenth century. It is suggested that they originated in France, under the name crozet, and were brought to Puglia in the 13th century.

penne 186

Penne was developed in 1865 after Giovanni Battista Capurro, a Genovese pasta maker, obtained a monopoly on the manufacture of a diagonal cutting machine. The machine allowed pasta tubes to be cut on an angle without flattening the ends - a feat that originally could only be created by hand. The shape itself refers to the metal pennino, or pen, that was dipped in ink, and in use until after World War II when ballpoint pens were first imported from the United States.

pi. fasacc 192

Literally meaning swaddled newborns, pi.fasacc have almost disappeared from the local everyday kitchen in Italy. However today they are still honored in an annual festival dedicated to its precious preparation in Artogne.

pisarei 197

When a young man presented a prospective fiancèe to his family, the mother checked the girl’s right thumb. If the mother found small imperfections or a callus on her thumb, it meant that she was an experienced maker of pisarei and thus a suitable bride for her son.

ruote 226

Ruote, meaning wheel, expresses the influence of the industrial age on pasta production.

ravioli 208

Stuffed pasta first appeared in Italy in the 16th century in the regal courts of the north, and passed down over time into the kitchens of the working class as a dish served for celebrations. Ravioli origin is vehemently debated

by Italians across the country today.

spaghetti 247

Spaghetti literally means small strings and has been an integral part in Italian gastronomy since the 1100’s under a variety of other names.

Today spaghetti consumption accounts for two-thirds of pasta consumption worldwide. In Italy, cooking spaghetti is widely debated between the North and the South. In the Northern regions, spaghetti is generally cooked longer, while the Southern regions eat it al dente or to the tooth.

tortellini 286

Tortellini origin and authenticity have been disputed for decades by gourmets, scholars, and Italians alike. On December 7, 1974, the Accademia Italiana della Cucina registered the ingredients and quantities of the ‘true and authentic’ tortellini to put an end to the debate.

However, the tortellini is the pride of Emilian gastronomy.

Legend says that Lucrezia Borgia, the illigite-mate daughter of Pope Alexander VI, stopped off at an inn in Castelfranco, Emilia. Smitten by his guest’s beauty, the innkeeper crept up to her door in the night to sneak a peek of her beauty through the key hole, and all he could see was her navel, but what a navel it was! He rushed to his kitchen to create a pasta to remember its beauty.

colophon Each page in this booklet was printed on an ricoh aficio sp c���dn laser printer on Classic Crest® Text - Classic Natural White paper. Each cover was screen-printed on Classic Crest® Cover - Canyon Brown paper.

All of the information presented in this booklet and the exhibition as a whole originated in Oretta Zanini de Vita’s book the Encyclopedia of Pasta.

Each wooden piece was donated by Feldweg and Freeman Woodworking, Inc. in Pleasant Valley, NY and screenprinted by hand by Michelle Ghiotti.