History of Pasta
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There are many schools of thought as far as the history of pasta is concerned. Ancient Etruscans used to make a paste out of wheat and egg, while artifacts from over three thousand years ago resemble pasta dies. Ancient Greeks used to prepare a type of dough that was flattened and looked like lasagna, and Romans of the first century AD made type of lasagna using flattened dough along with meat or fish.
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Records suggest that by the fifth century AD, Arabs too were cooking pasta, which could have something to do with having brought it back from Sicily. Some say that it was Marco Polo in 1295 who brought pasta from China, but recipe books from Italy written at least 20 years prior have pasta dishes.
In the fourteenth century, pasta had become extremely popular far and wide, thanks to explorers from Italy and Spain. Pasta was used in Italian monasteries during the 15th century, and by the time the seventeenth century had rolled in, pasta had established itself as a widespread food all over the region. The popularity of pasta did not wane at all when the eighteenth century arrived; both the common man of America as well as Thomas Jefferson was enjoying this dish on his table. It is said that when the US Ambassador came back from France to the US in 1789, he had brought home a macaroni maker.
In the mid 19th century, i.e., between 1859 and 1864, macaroni and cheese was the staple diet of many, since it was easy to store and prepare, and tasted good too. The biggest credit for popularizing pasta in the US must go to the Italian immigrants who arrived by the end of the 19th century.
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