Who invented pasta and where does it come from – this has been the long-lasting topic of discussion between many countries. The Italians, the Chinese, the Japanese, the Koreans, the Germans or maybe the Estonians? Who created this ingenious yet simple product, which the world has been consuming for centuries? Recent research proves that the first who made the dough, formed noodles and then cooked them were the Chinese. It is China where, in a village by the Yellow River, the noodles, which were four thousand years old and 20 inches long, were discovered. Traditionally, the Italians disagree with this, and claim that it is Italy, which first noticed the great excellence of using pasta as food for the poor. They prove that the idea of producing noodles had its roots in the development of Rome in the 1st century B.C., when the Empire consisted of more than a million citizens. Supplying food for so many citizens was a real problem. That is when the history of dried pasta as we know it today begins. It was discovered that ready dough, rolled into sheets and dried in the sun was easy to store and sell, and if well packaged it would stay good for a long time. But that is only one of the theories. Noodles are so fascinating that there are many legends circling on the topic of its origins.

Another legend says that it was discovered on a ship, when water got into the storage chamber, wetting the stored flour. After the ship dried, the owner of the ship found the stepped on, dried out pieces. The legend claims that he started adding them to boiling water and feeding his slaves. Another hypothesis tells of a baker who after making bread, tried to clean his hands by rubbing them against each other, and that is how he got thin threads of flour with which he thickened the soup. Among those theories one is sure – it were the Italians who began producing pasta on a large scale already in the era of the Roman Empire, and it is them who specialized in producing high quality pastas. The appearance of a great variety of noodle shapes is attributed to the 15th century Dominican monks. But it was the 17th century and the economic crisis that were decisive for the noodles’ career, when the Italian government decided to intensify the production of pasta to protect the population from hunger. By the end of the 18th century there were 280 specialist stores working in Napoli. At the beginning of the 19th century noodles reached the American continent, where the US president Thomas Jefferson was greatly fascinated by the product and recommended it during his famous dinners. Noodles quickly spread around the world as a great ingredient for many meals. It is so universal that it can be eaten with almost any ingredients. What is more, the delicious and healthy mixture of flour and water does not require much work and abilities in preparing.