But throughout the world the term “pasta” is associated solely with the genuine Italian variant made of durum wheat semolina. However it has been prepared and whatever the sauce accompanying it, a plate of pasta is always an homage to the sheer inventiveness of Italian cuisine.

To make the dough, two parts of durum wheat flour are kneaded with one part of water. Once the right elastic consistency has been attained the dough is shaped, pressed or cut into the required form and then dried. Fresh pasta, on the other hand, is made with finely ground white flour (type 405) mixed with eggs (3 eggs for 300 g flour). In Tuscany a drop of olive oil is also added to the dough, making it softer and more malleable. In the Emilia-Romagna region, however, passionate cooks argue that pasta dough stays more porous without any added oil, making it soak up the sauce much better. In Piedmont people even use up to 25 egg yolks plus three entire eggs for each kilo of flour.

The damp climate of Emilia-Romagna and the Po valley has given us noodle specialities made of egg dough – from the swirled tagliatelle shaped like birds’ nests to lasagne and the legendary tortellini, which are said to have started as a pasta chef’s attempt to copy his beloved’s navel. Tagliatelle, on the other hand, are supposed to have been modelled on the blonde hair of Lucrezia Borgia.

Pedantic bureaucrats in Bologna even succeeded in bringing order to the world of the ribbon-shaped tagliatelle – the Academia della Cucina stipulated the official breadth of tagliatelle bolognese: in a cooked and served state the noodle is to be precisely 12,270th of the Torre Asinelli in width, a famous tower and the city’s hallmark, in other words exactly 8 millimetres. Its thickness is allowed to vary between 6 and 8 tenths of a millimetre.

Today there are some 3000 recognized recipe variations for pasta in Italy. Each region has its own noodle delicacies – in the Aosta Valley it is “con funghi” (with mushrooms), in Liguria “al pesto”, in Trentino “con speck” (with bacon), in Veneto “con i fagioli” (with beans). Emilia-Romagna is where the classic dish “alla bolognese” was invented, while in Umbria pasta is of course served with “tartufi”, truffles. The Romans like their noodles “alla carbonara” (in the manner of the charcoal maker), on the coast people naturally prefer “alla marinara”, while in the country you’ll find “al coniglio” (with rabbit) or simply “al aglio e olio” (with garlic and oil) – and so on and so forth.

Text: Josette Cagli