Communicate-It Factsheet The history of pasta and coffee

							Communicate-It Factsheet
The history of pasta and coffee




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The history of pasta

The Romans called it "laganum", from the Greek "laganoz". It was a patty of
flour, cooked in water, without yeast. When it was cut into ribbons before
cooking, it was called "lagana". And today it is normally known as lasagna.
Perhaps, however, the origins of pasta, this quintessential gastronomic emblem of
Italian products, are even more ancient. They may date back to the Etruscan
civilisation, as suggested by stucco reliefs from the 6th century B.C., which
represent the interior of a house, with a cooking pot, rolling board and pasta
hanging on wooden poles for drying. Basically, the story of pasta goes back a
long way whichever way you look at it, and started when man discovered that the
grains of wheat could be ground and made into flour. The reason why
,particularly in Italy, this way of working flour became so traditional and
successful is perhaps explained by the fact that for centuries in southern Italy
there has been cultivated a type of wheat, durum, which is ideal for producing
pasta of very high quality. So much so that it has become a symbol of Italy. In
fact, every Italian eats on average 28 kg of pasta per year, an absolute record,
when compared to the 9-12 kg per capita average assumed in the United States
and Latin America, and to the 5-8 kg consumed in other European countries. And
the production figures are also impressive: around 3 million tonnes per year,
almost half of which is destined for export to markets all over the world. This
represents around 40% of world production, which stands at just over 7 million
tonnes per year and is above all accounted for by overseas branches of Italian
companies. Pasta is produced by almost 200 industrial pasta factories and no less
than 5000 small pasta producers, for an overall turnover of over € 3 billion. These
include companies of all sizes, from multinationals present in dozens of countries
to small workshops, often specialising in the production of filled pasta (ravioli and
tortellini), found throughout Italy, and not, as the traditional stereotype would
have it, only or above all in the south.

Good food and business have thus found in pasta a solid and long-lasting point of
contact. However, in reality, the industrial production of pasta is quite recent. Up
until the 18th century there were hardly any production facilities, and pasta was
produced at home or by a few craftsmen. It was only at the beginning of the 19th
century that the first small production facilities were set up, but with an
extremely limited production capacity, also because drying pasta required large
open spaces where wooden poles could be set up on which to hang the fresh
product for days. At the beginning of the 20th century the first mechanical mixers
were introduced, leading to the first small real companies in the sector. But it was
only with the introduction of mechanical drying systems, in the 1930s, that the
real pasta production industry began. Today, industrial processing takes place in
absolutely ascetic environments, with large-scale completely automated
machinery. The mixture is even processed in a vacuum, to avoid the formation of
bubbles, which would compromise successful cooking. Long strips of pasta are
thus produced for drying, which takes place in enormous cells with controlled
temperature and humidity. In the space of a few hours, the humidity in the pasta
is reduced to less than 10%. The product is then cut to the required sizes using
electronically controlled trimmers, finished and packed.

There are a vast number of sites dedicated to pasta, including www.pasta.it;
www.italianpasta.net; www.museodellapasta.it, and the sites of leading
producers.




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The history of coffee

The coffee plant was born in Africa in an Ethiopian region (Kaffa). From there it
spread to Yemen, Arabia and Egypt, where it developed enormously, and entered
popular daily life.

By the late 1500’s the first traders were selling coffee in Europe, thus introducing
the new beverage into Western life and culture. Most of the coffee exported to
European markets came from the ports of Alexandria and Smyrna. But the
increasing needs of a growing market, improved botanical knowledge of the
coffee plant, and high taxes imposed at the ports of shipment, led dealers and
scientists to try transplanting coffee in other countries. The Dutch in their
overseas colonies (Batavia and Java), the French in 1723 in Martinique, and later
on in the Antilles, and then the English, Spanish and Portuguese, started to
invade the tropical belts of Asia and America.

In 1727 coffee growing was started in North Brazil, but the poor climatic
conditions gradually shifted the crops, first to Rio de Janeiro and finally (1800-
1850) to the States of San Paolo and Minas, where coffee found its ideal
environment. Coffee growing began to develop here, until it became the most
important economic resource of Brazil.

It was precisely in the period 1740-1805 that coffee growing reached its zenith in
Central and South America.

Although coffee was born in Africa, plantations and home consumption are
comparatively recent introductions. Actually it was Europeans who introduced it
again, into their colonies, where, thanks to favourable land and climatic
conditions, it was able to thrive.

A major contributor to the spread of the beverage was the expansion of Islam in
North Africa, Europe and South Asia, first under the expansionist policy of the
Ottoman Empire, and later thanks to the development of trade promoted by
voyages of discovery.

In the second half of the 16th century coffee crossed the Eastern borders to land
up in Europe, from many directions: the age of huge sailing-vessels ploughing the
Mediterranean Sea, of the navigators developing their increasingly thriving
trades, and importing every kind of merchandise from end to end of the known
lands, were responsible for introducing coffee into the major ports of our
continent.

That is how, in around 1570, it made its appearance in Venice along with tobacco.
Its introduction into Italy is attributed to the Paduan, Prospero Alpino, a famous
botanist and physician, who brought with him some sacks from the East and,
having observed the plant’s characteristics, described it in his book "De Planctis
Aegyptii et de Medicina Aegiptiorum", printed between 1591 and 1592.

Venice, more than the other sea towns, was "the Eastern market". In its port
docked European vessels coming from the Arabic and Asian countries. Coffee
soon found its way there, and could rapidly be found in abundance. Venetians
were the first, thus, to learn to appreciate this beverage. At the beginning,
however, the price of coffee was very high, and only rich people could afford to
buy it, since it was sold only at chemist’s shops.




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G. Francesco Morosini, high judge of the Doges’ city, Venice, and ambassador of
the Venetian Republic to the Sultan, in 1582, in his report from Constantinople,
related that in the East there were numbers of public businesses where people
were used to meeting each other several times a day over a dark and boiling hot
beverage.

Coffee thus became the object of trade and commerce. Arising from travellers’
reports, some premises open to the public began to appear in Venice, too. Here
they served a beverage which was by now making everybody curious! In 1640,
the first "coffee shop" opened in Venice. Others followed in many Italian towns,
among them Turin, Genoa, Milan, Florence, Rome and Naples. By 1763 Venice
boasted no less than 218 outlets!

Just as coffee had been met by the hostility of devoted Muslims, so in Italy too its
introduction clashed with some Church representatives’ beliefs. So it came about
that some fanatical Christians urged Pope Clemente VII to forbid the faithful to
drink the "devil’s beverage" – as they called it!

The Pontiff, before giving judgement, asked for a cup of the black but fragrant
beverage. They say that, on tasting it he cried out: "This beverage is so delicious
that it would be a sin to let only misbelievers drink it! Let’s defeat Satan by
blessing this beverage, which contains nothing objectionable to a Christian!" Once
the Pope’s approval and blessing had been obtained for coffee, a "beverage for
Christians, too", its success was assured! By the late 18th century, many Italian
towns had adopted the same Venetian habit. Served in elegant coffee shops or on
rough common tables, the beverage was everywhere very much appreciated.

And what about a little “chit chat”, while you drank? To raise one’s spirits, and
banish worries! Seated at the table, in fact, they would drink, eye each other, and
gossip about the other customers: it was another key factor in the unexpected
success of these shops. Eighteenth century men of culture so loved it that it was
called an "intellectual beverage". Coffee aroused interest not only as a "refreshing
infusion" but also for its healing powers. In a leaflet, printed in Milan in 1801,
great credit was given by some physicians to coffee as a "cure-all". In Italy the
temples of coffee are still open, and the old and picturesque atmospheres are
recreated. The Caffè Florian in Piazza San Marco in Venice may be the most
illustrious of all! Ruby-coloured velvets, unobtrusive lights and small tables are
still the attractions of the Caffè Greco in Rome, the Pedrocchi in Padua, the
Michelangelo in Florence and the Baratti in Turin!

The tradition still survives today, as witnessed by the current splendour of so
many old coffee shops, in every large European capital. Coffee is therefore a
great invention, based on the art of processing and blending it. A specialty that
has become a typically Italian tradition!




www.communicate-it.co.uk                                                           4