Miseries and nobility of pasta: part two

We have seen in the previous installment, how Rome had reached 1.5 million inhabitants. Feeding a population of that magnitude presented gigantic problems.

In fact, the surrounding area could in no way produce enough food for the entire population. What little was produced had no market because, thanks to the political and military expansion of the Roman Empire, goods arriving from conquered countries were much cheaper than those produced locally.

To solve this problem, a a system of guaranteed supplies, first from the Italian regions (in 70 B.C. Sicily produced over 250 million kg of grain), then-after their conquest-from the lands of North Africa.

At the time of Augustus, for the feeding of residents of Rome they imported on average fromEgypt 135 million kg of grain, 175 million from North Africa, 40 million from Sicily, and then smaller quantities from Sardinia, from Syria and from Spain, totaling at least 350 million kilograms. And for these supplies, the following was permanently employed a fleet of 300 ships.

How to store all that grain

But despite the availability of these markets and the organization of transportation, it often happened that grain came in short supply. This was determined primarily by the frequent famines, then by the loss of ships on the way to Rome. But the most serious problem was the one created by the storage of such large quantities of grain.

We can imagine what the hygienic conditions in the warehouses back then, in times when there were no chemicals or other techniques to defend goods from animals, insects and pests. Just to get an idea of the extent of the problem, we can recall that in 62 B.C. Nero was forced to have all the grains piled up in Rome’s granaries thrown into the Tiber because they were so infested with parasites that it was impossible to use them for food.

Eliminate insects and pests

Most of this grain, every month was distributed free, or at a reduced price, to the poorer sections of the population, who first had the problem of eliminate insects and pests.

There were two techniques: the first was to toast the grains, and the second was to grind them immediately. In the first case it was the heat to stop the proliferation of pests, in the second the mechanical action of grinding.

With the toasted cereals, flours were then made from which a kind of polenta was cooked. With the flour, on the other hand, made bread and buns. The problem with flour, however, was that the neutralizing effect of insects and pests was only momentary. In addition to the always lurking attack of other pests, there was also the risk of spoilage due to moisture and the creation of mold.

The origins of pasta

Two techniques existed to remedy this new risk; the first was to bake the bread and buns in the oven, making a “cookie“, a product of easy and good preservation. The second in kneading flour with water for a long time, rolling it into thin sheets and letting it dry. The resulting product, the first pasta in history, could be stored for a long time (even a year) and was consumed by combining it with vegetable soups, the famous pultes.

Thus, the origins of pasta appear to us in a less extraordinary and noble light than we would like: it is a poor, humble product, invented to preserve the food staple from easy spoilage, and to ensure a food reserve in the event that the next distribution of grain might be skipped, due to a famine, a gale that had prevented ships from reaching the port of Rome, a more serious infestation than the others in the grain stores.

Freely excerpted from “RuvidaMente.com,” courtesy of the author.