Pasta is certainly a uniquely Italian dish but not all pastas are created equal. Those in the know say that the best pasta is that which comes from Campania. Even that isn’t specific enough for some. The real home of pasta they say are two small towns: Torre Annunziata and Gragnano. The latter even holds an annual pasta festival. Both of these areas are very well known for the pastas that they produce, a few of which are exported to the United States.
Some historians date the creation of the four pronged fork with which to twirl pasta to this area of the world as well. Apparently a certain Gennaro Spadaccini, one of King Ferdinand II’s Chamberlains, added an additional prong to the fork so that noblemen were able to perform the slight circular motion done when eating pasta more easily and to better wind pasta onto their forks without the risk of being covered in sauce. A noblemen covered in sauce would certainly go against the rules of the Galateo, a book on manners.
What it is that makes the pasta from these towns so special? Apparently it is the air and the water quality, the cooking and drying methods used as well. Pasta is only made from durum wheat here and graces the table at almost every meal excluding breakfast. Pasta can be dry or fresh and homemade. It is served with sauces, seafood or meat or vegetables.
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