If you follow my blogs you will know that I generally prefer to write about the less stereotypical, or well known aspects of Italian culture. So why write about something so simple and obvious as pasta, we all know what it is, right?

Try typing the word ‘pasta’ into the Google search engine and you will get about 47,500,000 results, hmmm, where do we begin?

The word pasta is related to the verb impastare (to mix, to knead, to work into a dough):

Pasta means ‘dough’ or ‘paste’, hence:

Last but not least we have the famous culinary ingredient, or dish, which is more or less synonymous with la cucina Italiana (Italian cuisine): la pasta.

When we talk about a pasta dish, as opposed to the ingredient itself, we often use the term pastasciutta (literally: dry pasta). This can be quite confusing for foreigners because pastasciutta isn’t necessarily dry. For example, a dish such as pasta al pesto, or pasta al pomodoro is commonly called a pastasciutta, e.g.: