L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 32 L'Italo-Americano sumption in history, found in the knowledgeable words of Giovanni Ferrario, per- s o n a l p h y s i c i a n t o K i n g William II of Sicily and tea- cher at the renowned medi- c a l s c h o o l o f S a l e r n o University, who waxed lyri- cal about the benefits of al- dente vermiculos (vermi- celli) for those recovering from typhoid fever. Thanks to its pasta-mak- ing — and drying, of course — tradition, Gragnano was also part of the G r a n d T o u r , a s D i M a r t i n o explained to BBC Travel: "When European nobles came to Gragnano, in order to prove they had done part of the Grand Tour, they would bring pasta back to s a y t h e y ' v e b e e n t o Gragnano," just like we do today, when we come to Italy and bring back heaps of food to our family and friends. In the early 20th cen- tury, the role of Gragnano as queen of dry pasta was w e l l e s t a b l i s h e d , w i t h almost 120 pasta factories at work in town, but crisis was just around the corner. The creation of special ven- tilation rooms, which made d r y i n g q u i c k e r , a n d t h e mechanization of the pasta- making process reduced the number of factories to a b o u t 4 0 a n d c a u s e d a n increase in unemployment. And so people emigrated to the US, exporting their pasta-making know-how to the other side of the pond, which came quite handy during the First World War w h e n I t a l y s t o p p e d exports. In spite of the difficul- ties, Gragnano didn't let change ruin its century- l o n g t r a d i t i o n , i t q u i t e simply tweaked its objecti- ves a little to focus no lon- ger on quantity but qua- lity: this is how its dry pasta became the champa- gne of dry pasta. Today, the wheat used by Gragnano 14 pasta-making factories all c o m e s f r o m c l o s e b y Gravina di Puglia, which means there is no time for molds and toxins to deve- lop, granting quality to the final product. Key to pasta production are traditional methods and the idea of "terroir," borrowed from the world of wines, to the point that, just like it hap- pens for wine producers, G r a g n a n o p a s t a m a k e r s must comply with rigorous regulations if they want their product to be conside- r e d b o n a f i d e " p a s t a d i Gragnano." And it is this pasta that, every year in September, is cooked in stands along the town's streets during the F e s t a d e l l a P a s t a d i Gragnano, an occasion for t h e l o c a l c o m m u n i t y t o celebrate the product and the heritage that placed it onto the world's culinary map and to remember that, sometimes — and especial- ly today — local and old fashioned is, indeed, better. Today, Gragnano pasta is synonymous with high quality and well selected, local ingredients (Photo: Dreamstime) LIFESTYLE FASHION FOOD ARTS ADVICE Continued from page 30

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