- Pixabay/Engin_Akyurt
VIVA – Spaghetti is a type of noodle pasta that’s often served with tomato sauce and is known to originate from Italy. But as it turns out, the origin history of this food is actually still debated. The name Spaghetti according to the website of Miami-based restaurant Mi'talia Kitchen, comes from the Italian Spago which means yarn.
On the other side, some historians believe spaghetti was invented in Italy while some believe MarcoPolo brought pasta back to Italy from his trip to China.
But a recent book by Italian food historian, Massimo Montanari claims that none of those origin stories are true.
In the book A Short History of Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce, Montanari reveals pasta was actually invented in the Middle East around 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. The first pasta was a derivative of unleavened bread cut into flat pieces.
Pasta/spaghetti.
- Pixabay/Ben_Kerckx
According to the website historyofspaghetti.com, in the Middle East, food made from dough was different from the food eaten daily in the Ancient Roman Empire. This food is called itriyya which is often described by the Greeks as 'dry pasta'.
The long-lasting food was one of the main sources of nutrition for Arab traders traveling to different parts of the world. The first European contact with itriyya was recorded in the 7th century AD when Arabia successfully occupied Sicily.
After the Arab troops retreated from Sicily, their pasta recipes remained and allowed the lower-class Sicilians to experiment and promote them to the upper class.
Meanwhile, the International Pasta Organization reports that the first version of spaghetti was invented in 1154. The oldest known documentation of pasta dates back to the first century BC. At that time the Roman poet Quintus Horatius Flaccus wrote about sheets of dough called Agana.
Spaghetti production itself in Sicily began in the 12th century. Then, some claim the first written mention of spaghetti and tomato juice dates back to 1870 in an Italian chef's cookbook.
According to the International Pasta Organization, Italy is the top country where pasta consumed in 2021 followed by Tunisia, Venezuela, Greece, and Peru.
