Noodles - What We Need To Know

2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29

It is said that soup is a dish for the soul. And who is the soul of the soup?

Some may have guessed, that's it the noodle. What would a soup be without its filling and unexpectedly delicious ingredient - noodles?

This pasta from the pasta family hardly exists as a stand-alone dish, but it is an integral part of the best recipes for soups, it is also preferred as a side dish in Eastern cuisine.

For what else the noodles can be used, where does it come from and what is its production technology? These are curious questions for all, tempted by the secrets of culinary art, and for lovers of soup - the food for the soul with its constant appetizing addition, called simply noodles.

Nature, etymology and appearance of pasta

When we eat delicious pasta, we usually do not realize that we are eating one of the most ancient foods. Their use and production are really deeply rooted in antiquity.

They are believed to have been first produced by the Etruscans, who occupied the Apennine Peninsula before the Romans.

There are also suggestions that Marco Polo brought them from China. Ancient images suggest that in the 4th century BC in Ancient Egypt a ritual dish of durum wheat was prepared, the purpose of which was to point the dead to the underworld of Osiris.

The Jewish tribes also became acquainted with the valuable food product, and it was highly valued by the Arab tribes, who immediately included it in the main food during the campaigns. They called it maccarruni, which comes from the words knead and mash and with them meant all dried pasta.

Over time, in order to distinguish the individual pasta products, people gave each of them a separate name, as well as diversified the production of types of pasta.

Classification of pasta

The paste is classified according to three main features: composition, shape and length.

According to the composition, it is simple and enriched. The ordinary one contains only flour and water. The great variety in the range of ordinary pasta is due to the shape and length. The nutritional value of all varieties in this group is the same.

The enriched are a large group, as the additional raw materials are many, although in small quantities. The most common are eggs and egg products, but also vegetables, milk and dairy products and others.

According to the form they are divided into: tubular, filamentous, ribbon-shaped and figural. In turn, they are long, short and small.

The tubes have a cavity along their length. The long ones are 150-200 millimeters, the short ones are 50-100 millimeters, and the small ones up to 50 millimeters.

The long ones are straight along their entire length, and their ends are cut perpendicularly.

The filaments are dense along their entire length. Their diameter is from 0.7 to 3 millimeters. Their ends are cut perpendicularly. They are long or short in length. The long ones are up to 200 millimeters and the short ones are 15-20 millimeters. The filaments are represented by spaghetti and noodles.

The ribbons are represented by different types of noodles - long, short, narrow, wide and with different shapes.

Etymology and origin of the noodle pasta

The common name is paste also applies to noodles. It is its variety and is a dry thin dough sticks of different shapes. They are often offered rolled up and used mainly in cooking soups.

The name of this type of pasta is different in different languages, and the variations in terms of shape and composition are understandable given the different culinary traditions.

The Italians call the noodle vermicelli and offer it as a hard dried wheat paste with a thread-like shape. The very name translated from Italian is worms.

In Spanish, the word Fideo means noodles. In Spanish-speaking countries, the word for noodles is also used to refer to other pasta, while in Spain it is reserved only for spaghetti-like pasta.

Nature and description of the noodles

The noodles represent pasta in the form of a thick dough stick. It is a semi-finished product that cannot be used for direct consumption, but becomes edible after cooking.

The thick thin threads of the noodles have a round cross-section, with a larger diameter than the spaghetti. Their diameter is from 0.5 to 1.5 millimeters.

They are available straight and long or twisted like a nest.

According to the classifications the noodles in composition is an ordinary paste, in shape it is threadlike and dense, and in length it can be offered both long and curled.

Requirements for flour for the production of noodles

The main raw material for noodle production is the flour. It is crucial for giving the dough its characteristic properties and for the quality of the finished pasta.

Durum wheat is most suitable. It fully meets the requirements for the quality of flour. Contains relatively high and good quality total protein, healthy and stretchable gluten and carotenoids. Because of these ingredients the noodles during cooking it does not boil, does not stick and has a pleasant taste and color.

The disadvantage is that it gives a small yield. Italy is the largest producer in Europe and this is completely understandable, given the huge share of pasta in their diet.

In our country the noodles are produced from varieties of soft wheat, due to the higher yields and the small consumer requirements. Therefore, it does not have the qualities of a durum wheat product.

Technology for the production of noodles

For many years, the development of technologies for the production of pasta and in particular noodles continues. Around 1870, the first hydraulic presses appeared in Italy, followed by the first mechanized machines powered by steam or hydraulic energy.

In 1933, the first real and fully automatic press was created by Mario and Joseph Brabantti of Parma. This marks the beginning of full automation in the production of this type of product.

Variations of recipes in the preparation of noodles

With us the main application of the noodles is in soups, and in Europe it is found as a side dish to another dish, after undergoing heat treatment, basic cooking.

In Egypt, the noodles are browned by frying in oil or butter, then rice and water are added.

In Somalia, it is used to make a sweet dish. It is eaten as a dessert or a side dish of Somali rice dishes.

In the Indian subcontinent use the noodles to make a sweet dessert similar to rice pudding.

In India they make a popular dish called upma. It is made with dry roasted noodles, cooked with a selection of vegetables.

Arpa fide - what is it?

This product in our country is also known by the names kritaraki or orzo. It is often confused with rice because it looks like it and is prepared in a similar way.

However, Arpa noodles are not a type of rice, but a pasta product and resemble other similar products prepared using the same technology.

It should be noted that it is made from barley and in Greece and Italy it is used a lot in different recipes - soups with noodles, meat dishes, side dishes. It does not boil or dilute during processing, which is a distinctive feature of all wheat products.