[Greek lagana] |
The works of the 2nd century AD Greek physician Galen mention a certain itrion, a homogeneous compounds made of flour and water. The Jerusalem Talmud records that itrium, a kind of boiled dough, was common in Palestine from the 3rd to 5th centuries AD.
A dictionary compiled by the 9th century Arab physician and lexicographer Isho bar Ali defines itriyya, the Arabic cognate, as string-like shapes made of flour which were dried before cooking. The geographical text of Muhammad al-Idrisi, compiled in 1154 for the King of Sicily Roger II, mentions that itriyya was manufactured and exported from Norman Sicily.
Sicily may well have been the origin of a North African cousin of pasta known as couscous: small droplets of durum dough which are steamed and usually served with a meat stew or vegetables and sprinkled with almonds, cinnamon or sugar.
Food historians estimate that the dish probably took hold in Italy as a result of extensive Mediterranean trading during the Middle Ages. From the 13th century, references to pasta dishes, such as macaroni, ravioli, gnocchi and vermicelli, crop up with increasing frequency across the Italian peninsula.
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