WTI Magazine #59    2015 May, 1
Author : Elda Buonanno Foley      Translation by:

If you ask any average American what is the one product that characterizes the Italians more than any other, the first answer will inevitably be "Pasta" in addition to underline that we, the Italians, eat only pastasciutta in any meals during the day. The comment seems a bit too exaggerated but, in the end, it reveals a peculiar characteristic of our Bel Paese: in the words of a great Italian writer Cesare Marchi " when it is lunch time, in front of a plate of spaghetti, all the inhabitants of the peninsula feel Italian (...) the Italian unification, as sought by the fathers of Risorgimento, is now called pastasciutta "(C. Marchi, Quando siamo a tavola, Rizzoli, 1990).

This being a literary remark to note that there is little doubt that the production and the consumption of pasta in Italy is the highest in the world, as all data indicates emphatically. We eat more than 28kg of pasta per capita with 40% of this solely in the south of Italy. We are the first producer of pasta with more than 3M tons per year compared to USA production levels of 2M and 1M in Brazil. We export more than 50% of the pasta made in Italy, to countries all over the "old world" (Europe) but now also toward new markets (Russia, China, India and so forth.)

So, what makes our Italian pasta so special to be associated to the people in Italy? First of all, the production made in Italy needs to follow specific and well defined quality standards as established by law. There are values, measurements, typologies that have to meet quality standards in order to honor the bigger picture of the "Made in Italy" concept.

Secondly, consider the huge selections of pasta that you can find (I am talking about the fresh and the dry type): it is estimated that there are more than 300 kinds of pasta (besides the well known spaghetti and penne, what about cavatelli, cappellini, agnolotti, bucatini, cavatappi, cellentani, conchiglie,l inguinette, fusilli, fricelli, gnocchetti sardi, gemelli, maccheroni, mezzelune, maltagliati, and so forth.

Thirdly, what about the condiments? We start with simple condiment (oil, butter and garlic) to more sophisticated and elaborated sauces (tomato sauce and meat, fish, seafood, cheese, vegetables, and so forth).

In sum, it is true: eating a lot of pasta reflects, in a way, how Italians are and feel. We are colorful, passionate, hard but most of the time tender, savory but always coherent with our sense of décor and elegance. Like our pasta. Buon appetito!