Calabria artisanal pasta

 Authentic Calabrese pasta

The culinary tradition Calabrese counts the pasta as the main ingredient which over the years has evolved in its many formats and variations according to the old methods of production to give every dish that genuine character and that taste of "homemade".

Why are the bronze dies so good? Bronze is the traditional material from which pasta extruding dies are made. The friction created by the bronze creates the rough surface texture that is authentic and will hold a sauce better than pasta made by any other method.

The amount of supermarket shelf space devoted to pasta is a good indication of its popularity with consumers. There is of course a split between dried and 'fresh' pasta but what is not so well known is that serious compromises have been made along the way, to achieve the price point and shelf life that the supermarket supply chain requires.

Dried pasta is now a low cost commodity available by the sack in supermarkets. Almost all dried pasta is made using an industrial process that is far removed from the ancient artisan method. The huge extruding machines use plastic dies, which have a longer life and generate less heat, so the pasta can be produced faster and with greater control. The serious downside of this is that the pasta is very smooth and slippery when cooked.

The rough texture that is typical of extruding through bronze has disappeared, and with it one of the most important attributes of good pasta. In addition, industrial-speed drying of pasta at high temperatures reduces the nutritional value and can compromise taste. It is all a very long way from pasta drying slowly in open-windowed barns, using just the hot, dry southern Italian breeze.