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Macaroni

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Not to be confused with Macaron.
For other uses, see Macaroni (disambiguation).
Macaroni
TypePasta
Place of originItaly (modern macaroni)[1]
Main ingredientsDurum wheat
Homemade macaroni and cheese, with dried herbs and ground pepper

Macaroni is a variety of dry pasta, originating from Italy,[1] made with durum wheat. Macaroni usually does not contain eggs and is normally cut in short, hollow shapes. It may be straight or curved, in which case it is frequently called elbow macaroni. Elbow maraconi is more common in the US and Canada, while British macaroni tends to be straight.[2] Although home machines exist that can make macaroni shapes, macaroni is usually made commercially by large-scale extrusion. The curved shape is caused by different speeds on each side of the pasta tube as it comes out of the machine. The name comes from the Italian maccheroni, plural form of maccherone.[3][4] A different name, chifferi or lumaconi, refers to bigger size of elbow-shape pasta.

According to a widespread misconception, macaroni was taken to Italy by Marco Polo, returning to Venice from China in 1292. This hypothesis has long been disproved, since it seems that macaroni was already used in Italy at least a century before, like pasta in general; Moroccan geographer Muhammad al-Idrisi, who lived in Sicily, documented macaroni in Sicily and in particular in Trabia.

The academic consensus supports that the word is derived from the Greek μακαρία (makaria),[5] a kind of barley broth which was served to commemorate the dead,[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] which in turn comes from μάκαρες (makares), "blessed dead", and that from μακάριος (makarios), collateral of μάκαρ (makar), meaning "blessed, happy".[15] The Italian linguist G. Alessio argues that the word can have two origins: the first from the Medieval Greek μακαρώνεια (makarōneia) "dirge" (stated in sec. XIII by James of Bulgaria), which would be passed to mean "funeral meal" and then "food to serve" during this office (see today's μαχαρωνιά - macharōnia in Eastern Thrace, in the sense of "rice-based dish served at the funeral"), in which case the term would be composed of the double root of μακάριος "blessed" and αἰωνίος (aiōnios), "eternally",[16] and the second from the Greek μακαρία "barley broth", which would have added the suffix -one.[17]

In North America, macaroni is most associated with the "elbow" shape commonly found in American-style macaroni and cheese. "Elbow macaroni" is also used in a milk pudding, similar to rice pudding, called macaroni pudding.

In areas with large Chinese populations open to Western cultural influence, such as Hong Kong, Macao, Malaysia and Singapore, the local Chinese have adopted macaroni as an ingredient for Chinese-style Western cuisine. In Hong Kong's cha chaan teng ("Tea Restaurant") and Southeast Asia's kopi tiam ("coffee shop"), macaroni is cooked in water and then washed of starch, and served in clear broth with ham or frankfurter sausages, peas, black mushrooms, and optionally eggs, reminiscent of noodle soup dishes. This is often a course for breakfast or light lunch fare.[18] Macaroni is a high protein food and good to eat before sporting events of high endurance

See also

References

Look up macaroni in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
  1. ^ a b Maccheroni, History of Maccheroni (it)
  2. ^ "Waitrose Macaroni". waitrose.com. Waitrose. Retrieved 3 Sep 2014.
  3. ^ Il Devoto-Oli. Vocabolario della lingua italiana, edited by Luca Serianni and Maurizio Trifone, Le Monnier.
  4. ^ Oxford Dictionary, Macaroni
  5. ^ μακαρία, (def. III), Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library
  6. ^ Macaroni, on Compact Oxford English Dictionary
  7. ^ "Macaroni", Online Etymology Dictionary
  8. ^ Macaroni, on Webster's New World College Dictionary
  9. ^ Andrew Dalby, Food in the Ancient World from A to Z, Routledge, 2003, on Google books
  10. ^ Reader's Digest Oxford Complete Wordfinder
  11. ^ Dhirendra Verma, Word Origins, on Google books
  12. ^ Mario Pei, The story of language, p.223
  13. ^ William Grimes, Eating Your Words, Oxford University Press, on Google books
  14. ^ Mark Morton, Cupboard Love: A Dictionary of Culinary Curiosities, on Google books
  15. ^ μάκαρ, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
  16. ^ αἰωνίος, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
  17. ^ G. Alessio, "Atti dell'Accademia Pontaniana", t. 8, 1958-59, pp. 261-280
  18. ^ AP, Explore the world of Canto-Western cuisine, January 8, 2007
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