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 How
pasta is made
Have you ever opened a package of pasta and wondered how all
those little shapes were made? Well, eat this up:
What causes macaroni to be
hollow and curved? How are all those other shapes from
alphabets to ziti made? Pasta manufacturing is both science
and art. Let's start our plant tour outside on the loading
dock where trucks or railroad cars deliver the coarse semolina
flour that has been milled from durum wheat. A special vacuum
hose pulls the wheat flour inside the plant and places it in
gigantic bins. Small plant purchase the wheat flour in huge
bags.
 Let's
step inside and follow the semolina to see how it becomes
pasta. You won't need a jacket because the temperature in a
pasta plant can sometimes be as high as 100 degrees! (You will
find out why later.)
Under carefully controlled
conditions, the wheat flour is mixed with water under vacuum
in a huge industrial mixer to form a tough dough. For some
products, eggs and natural flavorings, such as spinach and
tomato powders, are added at this time.
Once it has reached the
perfect consistency, the dough is ready for shaping. Most
pasta shapes result when the dough is force or "extruded"
through "dies," large metal discs full of holes. Since these
dies can weigh from 300 to 350 pounds each, special cranes or
carts are needed to hoist them into position.
 The
size and shape of the holes in these dies determines what the
finished pasta shape will be. Round or oval holes produce
solid rods, such as vermicelli and spaghetti. When a steel pin
is placed in the center of each hole in the die, the dough
comes out in hollow rods, such as macaroni. To give macaroni
its curved shape, the pin has a notch in one side. This allows
the dough to pass through more quickly on one side, causing it
to curve before it is cut to size with a revolving knife.
Other pasta shapes are cut
out of flat sheets of dough, such as noodles or bow ties. In
fact, bow ties are one of the most difficult shapes to make,
according to one expert U.S. pasta manufacturer. This is
because they are "stamped" out of the dough while
simultaneously being crimped in the middle to create the bow
shape. The dough must be neither too moist nor too dry or the
bows will turn out lopsided.
 Once
the pasta is extruded, it is cut to the proper length and then
begins its trip through the drying process. The machines that
dry pasta can be up to 320 feet long - about as long as a
football field. (This is why you don't need that jacket!)
Drying is one of the most critical steps to achieving a
perfect finished product. If the pasta is dried too quickly,
it will break easily. If dried too slowly, it could spoil.
Inside the dryers, the pasta is subjected to constantly
circulating, very hot, moist air. Not surprisingly, different
pasta shapes require different drying times according to their
thickness. Today's high tech machines have come a long way
from the early part of this century when pasta was hung on
racks to dry outdoors in the sun. Then, a stretch of damp or
rainy weather could seriously hamper a pasta maker's business!
 The
finished product is shuttled off to the plant's packaging
area. Here, dexterous machines open brightly colored boxes
which march by like toy soldiers to be filled and sealed.
Other pasta shapes such as noodles whiz through a
form-fill-and-seal machine which automatically creates a clear
bag from a sheet of cellophane, drops in just the right amount
of pasta, then seals it on its way to large shipping boxes.
You might also see such delicate pasta specialty shapes as
lasagne being packaged by hand to protect it from breakage.
The best part of any pasta
tour, of course, is the trip to your own kitchen. By using
different shapes, such as those given in these recipes, you
can easily and quickly create an endless variety of delicious
taste sensations. (And impress your friends and family with
the true story of how pasta is made!)
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