MACARONI

is considered by the general public as a typical and peculiarly Italian food, and Italy is probably entitled to the credit for her early appreciation of its virtues and her fidelity to it after adoption, but history credits its invention to the Chinese and its European introduction to the Germans. The Italians are said to have learned the art of making it from the latter. History, however, also informs us that, by the time the fourteenth century had rolled around, Italy was the only European nation enjoying macaroni, and that she held for a full hundred years the secret of the method of its manufacture. Later, some enterprising French man introduced it into France, and with great succe , for it is on record that King Louis XIII ordered a dish of it from an inn-keeper at Tours who had made a great reputation for its preparation. The above is briefly the European idea of the history of macaroni—but it is disputed by the Japanese, who claim priority in its use by hundreds of years. The Japanese delight especially in a very fine kind of vermicelli, cut into lengths of six to ten inches and tied in bundles. This variety is also peculiar in that it is flexible. The e ential point in the manufacture of macaroni is that the meal or “semola” be from hard, very glutenous wheat, the kind known as “macaroni wheat” in this country. The best imported macaroni is made from the blending of various grades of semola obtained from Taganrog wheat—a very hard Ru ian variety, both imported from Ru ia and raised from Ru ian seed in Southern Italy and France. By the original European method, the wheat is first steeped in water, then dried by heat, ground and sifted—both the husks and a considerable percentage of starch flour are thus separated, leaving a coarse meal, high in gluten and corresponding closely to the wheat “middlings” marketed here as wheat “farina” for consumption as a “cereal.” The le ening of the starch proportion is advantageous, as in cooking its expansion tends to break the pipes or make them stick together in a pasty ma . In general modern manufacture, coarsely ground flour is moistened with the smallest po ible quantity of boiling water, and thoroughly mixed, by machinery, until smooth and “tough” and then kneaded in a ‘special machine kneader known as a “gram ola.” The completed dough goes into the cylinders of the pre , where tremendous pre ure is brought to bear on it by means of revolving screws, and it is slowly pa ed out at the bottom of the cylinder through the small holes of the “trafila,” as the perforated plate is called. 7 The form of the trafila fixes the character of the product—for “macaroni” and similar varieties, there is in each hole a steel pin which gives the “pipes” their well-Known hollow or tubular form. With smaller holes without pins, the trafila produces “spaghetti” and similar solid LL» iu ty pes. For flat, noodle-like or “ribbon” Cutting off the macaroni strings as they come out of the “trafila” Vermicelll Spaghettini Spaghetti sh AME ia IURIS I, wi + 32 Rabo 33 k + (f \ MACARONI AND SIMILAR PASTES Mezz anelli (11) Tagliarini (21,24,25) Ditall Lisci Mezzati “Macaroni”’ or (12) (13) Linguine Trenette (22, (26) 28) Rigatoni Ditali Rigati varieties, a flat opening takes the place of the round hole. The short kinds are cut off by automatic rotary knives as the paste comes out of the trafila. The long varieties are cut off at the proper lengths by hand. Next comes the drying—in Italy generally accomplished by outdoor exposure. The long solid pastes are looped over canes, the others are generally spread on frames. When sufficiently dry, they are carefully inspected, sorted, weighed and packed. When outdoor exposure is not po ible, as, for example, in paste manufacDrying Spaghetti on canes ture in the Eastern United States, a special drying room is used, the frames or canes being placed in tiers. The proportion of profit in paste manufacture depends to a considerable extent on the care in drying—on the vigilance exercised in ensuring an unvarying temperature of the proper degree. If the air is allowed to become too moist, the entire batch may be ruined by mildew or souring; if too hot, it may spoil by over-rapid drying and consequent cracking or damage to its texture, and if the room is draughty, lo by cracking is again the result. The average American consumer has ne idea of the number of forms, a hundred or more, in which the paste is made by Italian manufacturers. They range from las agnes, short, flat pieces from one to two inches wide, cut out, and sometimes molded, by hand, to fidellini, long thin threads, the finest of which are many times smaller than vermicelli, which is the smallest type generally known here—and, in between, a great variety of forms and sizes—tubular, solid-round and flat, long and short, stars, dots, crescents, little animal shapes, etc., the last-named varieties being cut from thin sheets of the dough. See Color Page, opposite page 350, illustrating a number of different types. Macaroni should be kept in a dry, cool place. Under proper conditions it will remain good for a long time, but it is not generally advisable to risk deterioration by laying in a large stock. In cooking, be careful to put it into boiling, and salted, water. Cold water will spoil the best macaroni. The water must be kept fully boiling for from twenty to thirty minutes until the macaroni is tender. When done, drain well and season or dre to suit individual Drying.the “pastes” in the open air near Naples, Italy tastes. The idea is to have every tube thoroughly tender, but each tube whole, separate and without pastine . In Creole cookery, macaroni, spaghetti, etc., is freely added to many soups. If macaroni, after proper and careful cooking, is pasty or does not retain its shape, it is of poor quality and probably made from the wrong variety of wheat. Cooking is the only really conclusive test, consequently it is not good policy to stock heavily any macaroni by a new or unknown manufacturer until you have tried it by cooking some. [s. 358]