PASTA – A CRASH COURSE

Let’s start this crash course in pasta with a left turn into the annals of philosophy. When Spanish-American philosopher and writer George Santayana was attending university, he stopped in one night at a diner.

Famished after a long day of critical thinking, he ordered spaghetti and meatballs.

George was a couple mouthfuls in when he recalled that he’d been dissatisfied with this very same dish, in this very same diner, three weeks previously. He put down his fork, pulled his notebook from his satchel, and wrote the first draft of what would become his most famous quote (below).

LET’S TAKE A TRIP

One of the most beguiling of pasta possibilities is the rare su filindeu. The name means “the threads of God,” perhaps because to make it takes a blessed amount of patience and skill.

On the Italian island of Sardinia, in a village called Nuoro, Paola Abraini rises at 7:00 each morning to begin the painstaking task of manipulating semolina dough into the thinnest of strands, then weaving these strands across a circular frame in a three-layer pattern. These circles are slow-dried in the Sardinian sun, resulting in fine pasta said to be about half the width of angel’s hair. Signora Abraini is one of only three women in the world who possess this skill – the other two are her niece and her sister-in-law, both of whom also live in Nuoro.

Visit Sardinia during the Feast of San Francesco and you’ll be served su filindeu in a sheep’s broth with grated pecorino.

Story by Tim Williams

PASTA BY NUMBERS

13 or 4

Contrary to the folklore of Marco Polo bringing pasta back from the Far East to Italy in the 13th century, food historians have found evidence of pasta predating the Roman Empire, as far back as 4th century BCE.

3 to 12

Minutes, that is. That’s the range you can expect when aiming to cook your dried pasta al dente, or with a slight firmness in its consistency. Long, fine pasta such as angel hair will cook to al dente in about 3 minutes, while thicker pasta such as penne may take as long as 12 minutes. These numbers can depend on your heat source, as well as your concept of firm. Speaking of time, the best pasta is dried slowly before packaging – look for pasta that’s more beige than yellow.

350… 600… 165

How many kinds of pasta are there? It all depends on who you ask. Certainly, the numbers are a testament to pasta’s wide-ranging versatility, and to innovative chefs the world over.

And back to 4

If we move the conversation to a bigger table, we can state with al dente certainty that there are four kinds of pasta:

Long: Think linguine, fettuccine, spaghetti.

Short: Think penne, rigatoni, fusilli.

Stuffed: Think ravioli, tortellini, cappelletti.

Soup: Think orzo, pastina, farfalle.

THE DATING GAME: PASTA EDITION

On a recent trip to Italy, we learned from a feisty Bolognese tour guide that the romance between pasta and sauce rivals that of Romeo and Juliet. Getting it right means a blissful love affair, getting it wrong can mean a disaster of Montague-versus-Capulet proportions. At the very least, you’ll end up with a mouthful of sauceless noodles and a bowlful of noodle-less sauce.

Here’s a quick guide:

FETTUCINI:  Use a cream sauce, like the ubiquitous Fettucini Alfredo, named for Roman creator Alfredo di Lelio.

SPAGHETTI: Fish for a seafood sauce. Think Spaghetti Vongole (with clams).

ANGEL HAIR: Any finer tomato-based sauce, like a fresh sugo di pomodoro, will do.

ORECCHIETTE: Like most pastas, orecchiette is named for its shape. These “little ears” are best paired with a vegetable sauce like a puttanesca, which also has an interesting translation. We’ll let you Google that on your own.

RAVIOLI:  Slippery sauces go best with these pockets of gastronomic delight. We love a sage and brown butter sauce with an egg raviolo.

PENNE:  This is the Charles Atlas (Calabrese, by the way) of pasta in that it does the heavy lifting. A hearty Bolognese or ragu is the sauce for this macho noodle.

With more than 600 pasta shapes, we could go on, but we trust you get the idea: catch the most sauce possible on your noodle.

PASTA WITHOUT THE PASSPORT

If you’re seeking an uncommon pasta experience a little closer to home, Calgary has an abundance of options for Italian dining that are by turns authentic and adventurous.

• The potato, raclette and truffle Agnolotti at Banff’s Lupo is worth the park pass fee and gas money all by itself.

• Back to basics has never tasted as good as Mercato’s Tagliatelle featuring a classic sugo di pomodoro with fresh basil leaves, cherry tomatoes and Parmigiano.

• It’s hard to go wrong with Spaghetti alla Carbonara and Bonterra Trattoria’s is among the best around. Enjoy it on the gorgeous patio while the weather’s still warm.

• The Cacio e Pepe Spaghetti at Ten Foot Henry is, like the entire menu, fresh, delicious and impeccably prepared.

• The Pappardelle Bolognese at Teatro is better than some we’ve had in Italy.

• Centini’s Wild Mushroom Ragu Tagliatelle is authentically Italian and it’s loaded with mushrooms. Their Wild Boar Ragu is also great. pro tip: buy the Centini sauces for home. The three cheese is sublime.

• D.O.P is opening its new location in Marda Loop in September and we have two picks: the Tajarin with tomato, guanciale, peppers and stracciatella cheese is super-delicious and the Raviolo with brown butter and sage was brought up by a few of us.

• Francas’ Linguini Vongole.

• +39 Pizza Pasta’s Spaghetti and Meatballs.

• YYC Pasta Bar’s Gnocchi Gorgonzola.

• Rea’s Italian Cucina Vitello Parmigiano.

• Cardinale’s Bucatini.

• My Little Italia’s Baked Canelloni Bolognese.