Are pasta and noodles the same thing? No, they aren’t, although it is a very ambiguous topic. Pasta doesn’t contain enough egg to be classified as a noodle.
You might often hear pasta being called “noodles”, although you almost never hear of noodles being called pasta. What is the difference? It is very unclear for most people, but the National Pasta Association has tried to define it. They say that pasta is made from durum wheat with water, which gives it a harder and coarser texture than noodles. They also say that a noodle must contain at least 5.5% egg. Pasta contains egg, but not as much as noodles. Pasta also usually contains some amount of semolina flour, but noodles can be made with any kind of flour. Noodles also usually have salt in them because it helps the dough to bind. Pasta usually has the salt added when the pasta is being boiled, or afterwards. There are also many different shapes of pasta, while, noodles tend to be … noodle-shaped. Right. So, that’s clear? As mud. There are some types of pasta that have more egg. There are some types of noodles that have less egg. And there are many types of pasta that are not made of durum wheat flour. It gets a little bit confusing when you realize that there are over 1,200 different types of noodle in Asia. Let’s look at where they both came from and see if we can work this out.
There are multiple conflicting ideas about where noodles and pasta came from as well. It is generally thought that noodles were first made in the area that became China. In 2000 AD, a complete bowl of noodles dated to 2000 BC, 4,000 years ago was found. These noodles were made from millet. The bowl was found completely intact and upside down, so it was very easy to see what the food was. As with many things, if there is a complete bowl in existence 4,000 years ago, then noodles themselves must have been invented long before that. One common theory is that noodles became common in China and were then transported to Europe along the Silk Road by Marco Polo, where they became noodles. That would imply that pasta is an evolution of the noodle. Is that true?
It looks like Marco Polo bringing noodles to Europe is a myth. Marco Polo probably did eat noodles in China, and he may possibly have brought some back with him to Europe, but forms of pasta had been eaten in Europe for over a thousand years before Marco Polo was even born. There is evidence that pasta was made and eaten by the Etruscans in 400 BC. The Etruscans were a people that lived in Italy and possibly went on to become the founders of the Roman Empire, although that is disputed. Again, the same as with the first noodles, if there was fully-fledged pasta in 400 BC, it stands to reason that it was invented a long time before that. The evidence is an image of kitchen implements that were used to roll and cut pasta. The equipment is almost the same as that used today.
There are other types of pasta-like foods that sprang up in different locations throughout Europe. Some of them are similar to pasta and some of them are fried, making them more like mini donuts. In the 2nd century AD, there is a recipe for lagana, which are fried sheets of dough, but that could be the origin of lasagna. Jewish people also seem to have eaten boiled dough in Palestine in the 3rd century AD. Boiled dough is basically pasta.
It took many more centuries before the consumption of pasta took over in Italy and then spread. It spread with trade, as did the association of Italy with pasta. So, were noodles invented in China and then they spread via trade routes to Italy? Were noodles invented in China and pasta invented independently in Europe? Were they invented somewhere else and then they travelled to both China and Europe? There is absolutely no way of knowing. However, because pasta and noodles are basically made with flour water and egg, it doesn’t seem like something that wouldn’t appear in multiple places. It is a very basic type of food and I think that if people could make bread, which certainly appeared in many different places independently, then there is no reason why they couldn’t make noodles and pasta. And this is what I learned today.
Photo by Engin Akyurt: https://www.pexels.com/photo/pasta-on-white-plate-on-focus-photo-1527603/
Sources
https://wildgrain.com/blogs/news/pasta-vs-noodles-spaghetti-vs-egg-noodles
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Pasta_Association
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasta
https://greatist.com/eat/what-is-the-difference-between-pasta-and-egg-noodles
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noodle
https://blog.splendidspoon.com/culture-and-history-of-noodles
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