Pasta - In Any Shape Still the Same

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By Constance Grayson

One can hardly think of Italy without thinking of pasta. The two just go hand-in-hand like peanut butter and jelly or Lucy and Ethel. For years, I had heard the legend that the recipe and technique for making pasta had come back to Italy with Marco Polo after he had traveled to China.
Later research seems to disprove that. Evidence of pasta in Italy has been found in the Etruscan and Roman times. Nonetheless, pasta is truly the quintessential Italian food dish.
Pasta is essentially made from the same recipe regardless of shape-just flour and water, sometimes a pinch of salt or egg-easily mixed together and rolled out. The different shapes do, however, have a function. The shape of the pasta will control how much sauce will be retained with each bite. This affects the ultimate taste to the eater.