How do you say pasta in Italy?

M – Good morning to all our listeners. Welcome to the new episode of our CAI podcast, the Podcast that tells you curiosities, peculiarities, stories and characters of our beautiful country. I’m Marcello, and as you know, I’m the founder of Vitor, for years we have been bringing hundreds of tourists from all over the world to get to know “IL BEL PAESE”, the beautiful country, as we call it, and meet its people, gli Italiani. … And with our Podcast, we want to reveal some little secrets about Italy and Italians, something that it’s written, let me say, in our DNA. Also, we want to tell the history of our country from the point of view of our fathers, our grandfathers and our ancestors, whose legacy is still with us today.

P – Marcello, yes. A beautiful legacy that we must preserve with care and love.

M – Of course, Patrizia and one thing that we have preserved with particular care and attention is the culinary tradition. From north to south, in any Italian family, everyone knows how to cook something good. Some are superfine chefs, but we all know how to put together something pleasant with a certain taste.

P – I know a couple of people who could largely disprove your theory, but let’s move on.

M – HA HA Patrizia, me too. And I myself am not a superfine chef, I assure you. However, there is one dish that every Italian can cook, including me, and that we can prepare at any time of the day or night when we are with friends and get hungry, even if you do not have anything in the fridge!

P – Let me guess! Spaghetti, garlic, oil and chilli?

M – That’s right! Midnight summer spaghetti dinners are a great classic, especially among young people who stay up late, perhaps after a night out at the clubs.

P – Eh, Marcello, memories of my youth, now I eat pasta at mealtimes.

M – Here is the magic word. PASTA. “Facciamo un piatto di pasta” “Let’s cook a dish of Pasta”. But you and I, we both know that “a dish of pasta” is too generic. In a typical Italian family, at home, somebody opens the shelf in the kitchen and asks: “Che pasta facciamo oggi?” “What kind of pasta are we cooking today?” Yes, because its’ not just pasta, is it? 

P – No Marcello, it’s not. Its’ maccheroni, rigatoni, tortiglioni, spaghetti, spaghettini and spaghettoni, vermicelli, fusilli, farfalle, penne, mezze penne and pennette rigate e lisce, bavette, reginelle, mafaldine, bombardoni, conchiglie, conchiglioni, pipette, paccheri, mezzo paccheri, ziti, bucatini, lasagna riccia, candele, linguine, fettuccine, tagliatelle, calamarata, orecchiette, sedanini, gramigna, ravioli, tortellini, cappelletti and agnolotti.

M – somebody could make a rap out of it. These are just some of the names we give to the different types of pasta. There are more than 200 types. Some are synonymous, others are types of pasta typical of specific regions. So, it’s not just “a dish of pasta” but “a dish of rigatoni, a dish of penne, a dish of fusilli”…..or, very Italian, “du spaghi”, meaning a dish of Spaghetti.  

P – Marcello, 200 types? So many? Even I, who am Italian, haven’t tasted them all. 

M – Yes, 200 pasta shapes or maybe even more. Apart from the shape, another difference is the ingredients used and the type of preparation. We have dry pasta, which you can find in bags already packaged at the supermarket, and that lasts a long time, months at least. Then, there is fresh pasta, which is usually softer and can contain eggs; it is often sold in bulk, by weight. You can find it in delicatessens, small grocery stores or artisan pasta factories, and you should eat it within a few days. 

And then, as you well know, it’s the ingredients that make the difference: whole wheat flour, durum wheat semolina flour, wheat flour, egg, eggless, stuffed and unfilled. Not to mention the recipes, it can be in broth and therefore it is a “soup”, or dry and so  Pastasciutta, or “dry pasta”. And these days, there is also a lot of attention to health aspects: for many people intolerant to gluten, there is pasta prepared with gluten-free flour, could be with legume or rice flour. And then, there is organic pasta, or with flours with a low glycemic index, for those who cannot exaggerate with sugars, such as Kamut. 

Well, the list is really long. So, if you say to an Italian: – Today, I ate a plate of pasta! – Well, he’ll most likely reply: – What was it like? Because no Italian shows any disinterest in a plate of pasta. 

P – Today, I will eat wholemeal macaroni seasoned with zucchini, Taggiasca olives, extra virgin olive oil and parmesan cheese. Ok?

M – Wow, Patrizia, Macaroni with zucchini is so yummy. Well done, are you cooking it?

P – EEEEhmmmm, Marcello, I said I’m going to eat it, not that I’m going to cook it. We were saying…?

M – Eeehhhhhmmmmm……. So, different sizes…… Oh, yes, different sizes for different toppings. So, some types  want only definite toppings. For instance, Amatriciana goes with Spaghetti, so you’ll never hear Fusilli all’Amatriciana, but only Spaghetti all’Amatriciana. However, we can say that spaghetti is a bit of an ace up your sleeve, and one way or another, you can always find the right recipe to prepare it.

P – “Spaghetti with tomato sauce” is a classic and simple recipe, yet one of my favourites. 

M – A little sauce, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and, if you like cheese, grated Parmesan cheese at will. It’s a very balanced dish that best represents Mediterranean cuisine. But pasta can be combined with everything: vegetables, fish, meat, cheese and eggs.

P – Marcello, you said first course, and in fact, pasta in Italy is always a main course, not an accompaniment like bread.

M – Exactly, we don’t use pasta as an accompaniment; it’s the same with rice. The condiment is hearty and very nutritious, so we consider it a main dish.

P – OK, Marcello, let’s talk about the most famous recipes…..

M – My favourites are Carbonara and Amatriciana. For Carbonara, rigatoni are perfect because they hold both the egg and the guanciale (pig’s cheek), and they are thicker than spaghetti. Because let’s remember that the recipe for Carbonara is: pecorino cheese (sheep), guanciale, egg yolk and pepper. Pecorino and not Parmesan, because, as a friend of mine who is also a cook in Rome told me once: A Roma ce stavano e pecore, mica e mucche (In Rome they had sheep, not cows). Many cooks are very rigid with recipes and if customers ask for variations, they are not always happy.

P – Yes, please. Don’t ask for the addition of cream, mushrooms, or bacon instead of pig’s cheek. For some chefs, it’s an unbearable insult. They may call the police.

M – Of course, we are joking, but it’s just to show how, in Italy, we take cuisine really seriously. And the more high-level a restaurant is, perhaps with a starred chef, the more they tend to stick to the original recipes without too many variations.

P- OK, no cream in carbonara. And what about Amatriciana? What’s the authentic Italian recipe? 

M – Amatriciana comes from Amatrice, a town in Abruzzo, a region in central Italy. The main ingredients are: pig’s cheek, pecorino cheese and tomato. There is also a version without tomato, one of my favourites is pasta alla Gricia, which takes its name from Grisciano, a small hamlet of Accumoli, a village a few kilometres from Amatrice. These dishes originate from sheep farming, and the shepherds who went to pasture with their animals brought with them lard, dry pasta, guanciale, black pepper, and pecorino cheese.

P – All foods that could be stored for several days.

M – That’s right, in those days, the refrigerator didn’t exist. In Italy, we say “fare di necessità virtù”, which is a bit like saying: transform a difficulty into a positive thing. In this case, they had simple ingredients that could be stored for several days, and they turned them into a tasty recipe.

P – Marcello, our claim is ITALY WITH ITALIANS, why don’t you explain what it means, regarding food?

M – You’re right, Patrizia. First, when you come with us, we recommend the typical dishes along your itinerary. So, for example, if you are in Puglia, we tell you you must taste “orecchiette alle cime di rapa”, orecchiette pasta with turnip tops. Or, if you are staying in the Cinque Terre, Trofie al Pesto (trofie with pesto sauce). But, don’t ask for Trofie al Pesto in Puglia, or Orecchiette in Cinque Terre,  you may not necessarily get something special… indeed. Each region, down to each city, has its own specialities. Also, you may think that some dishes are very simple, such as cacio e pepe pasta, but only some restaurants prepare it as it should be done, according to the original recipe.

P – Let me do some advertising; this is a bit of Vitor’s added value: we are here, we are Italians.

M – We are here; we are Italians, and we make our guests visit Italy just like we would. There are some things you know only if you live there. This is true for the whole world, but even more so for a complex and rich country like Italy. In fact, our travellers particularly appreciate our list of recommended restaurants; here, we indicate some restaurants that we have tried or that are in the best restaurant guides FOR ITALIANS, so in each place our friends can eat the specialties of the place. And in our BLOG, there are several articles on typical local dishes to avoid, for example, eating lasagna in Venice thinking it is a typical dish. Because, always remember, there is no such thing as an “Italian” cuisine, there are 20 “regional” cuisines. And, by the way, be wary of online reviews; they are not always the most effective tool for choosing a good restaurant.

P – In fact, here we say: Seeing is believing.  Ok, where are we going today, or better, where are we going to eat today? 

M – Today, I’m sending our friends to try the specialities of Emilia Romagna, cities like Parma and Bologna are the capitals of fresh pasta. Lasagna, ravioli, cappelletti. Here, you will find the best of the best. We are talking about cities rich in history and beauty, and after strolling through the streets of the centre or visiting museums and monuments, ending the day with an unforgettable dinner will be the icing on the cake.

P- So today, we greet you with a Buon Appetito! 

M – Buon Appetito. And we are waiting for you with a nice dish of steaming pasta.

Ciao