People have been eating pasta since at least 5,000 b.C.

However, World Pasta Day was only established in 1995, when 40 pasta producers from around the world gathered to hold the globe’s first World Pasta Congress. Since then, the world has joined forces each 25th October to pay tribute to one of the most delicious and versatile foods known to man.

Some researchers place its discovery in the XIII century by Marco Polo, who introduced the pasta in Italy upon returning from one of his trips to China in 1271.

Probably though, the pasta dates much further back to ancient Etruscan civilizations, who made pasta by grinding several cereals and grains and then mixed them with water, a blend that was later on cooked producing tasty and nutritious food product.

When the Greeks founded Naples, they adopted a dish made by the natives, made up by barley-flour pasta and water dried to the sun, which they would call “macaria”.

We also find references to pasta dishes in the ancient Rome, which date back to the III century before Christ. It was the Roman expansion and dominion which fostered the harvest of cereals in the whole Mediterranean basin. The term macaroni, with which a type of long pasta is currently referred to, is found in writings of Roman writers since the first centuries of our era.

At the onset of the XVII century we found in Naples the birth of the first and rudimentary machines for the production of pasta. In 1740, in the city of Venice, Paolo Adami, was granted the license to open the first pasta factory.

At the beginning of the XIX century, the most refined cooking that triumphed in the tables of the nobility was made up by pasta dishes; little by little its use became a gastronomic habit among the high classes. During this century the dry pasta consumption spread quickly among the whole Italian society. Pasta consumption became a trendy thing and its offering to guests became a sign of distinction.

Nowadays, artisan pasta is still a sign of distinction for discerning palates. The pasta your find in our Italian hamper gifts is made with robust durum wheat semolina sourced locally in the south of Italy, precisely in the Lucania area, following ancient recipes.

Whether you prefer calamarata, orecchiette, or conchiglioni, you’ll love this World Pasta Day!