The happiness of food: pasta, form and substance
If liquid soups, and creams do not have their own shape, but take on the shape of the container in which they are contained, pasta is pure form, absolute form, an idea of form that is realized. Because without shape there would be no pasta * at least as we understand it.
''Pasta'', literally, is the dough, the magma of water and flour that is waiting to be shaped, to take shape under the expert hands of the sfoglina who ''feel'' the heat and shape, stretch, enlarge, cut, fold, stuff, close. That is the ''pasta'', almost a pongo to play with, smearing your hands to create objects.
''Pasta'' is also the magma of durum wheat that needs kneading machines, presses, dies to complete its identity. But the Italians call the final works ''pasta'', preferring the singular to the plural as if to recall the original unity of the whole. Other languages, such as French, have preferred to distinguish: the singular pàte indicates the set of origin, the plural pàtes the artifacts or drawn ready to end up in the pot.
The variety of types of pasta has always been a feather in the cap of Italian gastronomy, ever since this food item became part of our habits. The recipe books of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries already know countless forms, and the names that we find in the texts of the seventeenth century are a tribute to the imagination and creativity of pasta makers.
Experience teaches us that different shapes of pasta, while they may be the same in substance, actually produce different results on a sensory level. Let's leave aside the condiments, which obviously make the difference. We accompany the pasta with only butter and Parmesan cheese (the 'classic' condiment of every pasta, from the Middle Ages to the eighteenth century) and try to taste. A forkful of spaghetti won't taste exactly the same as a forkful of macaroni, or dumpling. Chewing a thin spaghetti won't be the same as chewing a big one, and a smooth macaroni won't taste like a striped macaroni. The shape leads to different flavors. But what is taste, if not the substance of food?
A study by IULM confirms what all lovers of pasta dishes know very well: pasta causes us to be happy, and positive emotional reactions. The research carried out by the Behavior & Brain Lab used sophisticated neuro-scientific and brain tracking techniques, a system very similar to the lie detector, certifying the reactions of the subjects examined during the meal, comparing them with other pleasant experiences such as a concert, the goal of our national football team at Euro 2020 or the winning shots of Federer and Nadal depending on the preferences of the examinees. IULM analyzed four parameters that, as written by Ansa, "also tell us that the emotional experience lived during the tasting of the favorite pasta is equal to that generated by the recollection of happy memories." Professor Vincenzo Russo, professor of Consumer Psychology and Neuromarketing, explains that this reaction is due to the link between home food and family memories: "Pasta puts itself at the service of emotions, it creates and arouses happy memories."
NoteMedieval doctors knew this well, and they attributed the ability to ''express'' the nature of food to taste.
If liquid soups, and creams do not have their own shape, but take on the shape of the container in which they are contained, pasta is pure form, absolute form, an idea of form that is realized. Because without shape there would be no pasta * at least as we understand it.
''Pasta'', literally, is the dough, the magma of water and flour that is waiting to be shaped, to take shape under the expert hands of the sfoglina who ''feel'' the heat and shape, stretch, enlarge, cut, fold, stuff, close. That is the ''pasta'', almost a pongo to play with, smearing your hands to create objects.
''Pasta'' is also the magma of durum wheat that needs kneading machines, presses, dies to complete its identity. But the Italians call the final works ''pasta'', preferring the singular to the plural as if to recall the original unity of the whole. Other languages, such as French, have preferred to distinguish: the singular pàte indicates the set of origin, the plural pàtes the artifacts or drawn ready to end up in the pot.
The variety of types of pasta has always been a feather in the cap of Italian gastronomy, ever since this food item became part of our habits. The recipe books of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries already know countless forms, and the names that we find in the texts of the seventeenth century are a tribute to the imagination and creativity of pasta makers.
Experience teaches us that different shapes of pasta, while they may be the same in substance, actually produce different results on a sensory level. Let's leave aside the condiments, which obviously make the difference. We accompany the pasta with only butter and Parmesan cheese (the 'classic' condiment of every pasta, from the Middle Ages to the eighteenth century) and try to taste. A forkful of spaghetti won't taste exactly the same as a forkful of macaroni, or dumpling. Chewing a thin spaghetti won't be the same as chewing a big one, and a smooth macaroni won't taste like a striped macaroni. The shape leads to different flavors. But what is taste, if not the substance of food?
A study by IULM confirms what all lovers of pasta dishes know very well: pasta causes us to be happy, and positive emotional reactions. The research carried out by the Behavior & Brain Lab used sophisticated neuro-scientific and brain tracking techniques, a system very similar to the lie detector, certifying the reactions of the subjects examined during the meal, comparing them with other pleasant experiences such as a concert, the goal of our national football team at Euro 2020 or the winning shots of Federer and Nadal depending on the preferences of the examinees. IULM analyzed four parameters that, as written by Ansa, "also tell us that the emotional experience lived during the tasting of the favorite pasta is equal to that generated by the recollection of happy memories." Professor Vincenzo Russo, professor of Consumer Psychology and Neuromarketing, explains that this reaction is due to the link between home food and family memories: "Pasta puts itself at the service of emotions, it creates and arouses happy memories."
Note
Medieval doctors knew this well, and they attributed the ability to ''express'' the nature of food to taste.
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