Gragnano is popularly called the city of pasta! Let’s get to know why!
The production of pasta in Gragnano dates back to the end of the 16th century when the
first family-run pasta factories appeared in the area. Pasta di Gragnano PGI is a dry pasta obtained from a mixture of durum wheat flour and water from the local aquifer of Gragnano, near Naples. The product is available in various typical shapes, created by Gragnano pasta-makers’ imagination, and it has a distinctive rough surface.
With the passage of time, the need for the poor classes to have a minimum of food stocks led to a new production, that of dry pasta, made with durum wheat semolina ground in the area. This activity quickly became such an important and deeply rooted tradition that in the 16th century the guild of "vermicellari" was established in Naples and in the same period an edict of the King of Naples conferred the license of vermicellaro to a Gragnanese.
Until the seventeenth century, it was a little widespread food, but following the famine that hit the Kingdom of Naples, it became a fundamental food thanks to its nutritional qualities and to the invention that allowed to produce pasta, called white gold, at low cost by pressing the dough through the dies. The ideal lands to allow the productions were Gragnano and Naples.
Pasta di Gragnano PGI is entirely produced in the small city of Gragnano, near Naples, in the Region of Campania. It is the water that makes this dry pasta different: Pasta di Gragnano PGI is made with pure local sourced water from Lattari Mountains. The production and packaging area of the “Pasta di Gragnano” PGI Protected Geographical Indication includes the entire territory of the Municipality of Gragnano in the Province of Naples.
It has a homogeneous pale-yellow colour and its rough surface is obtained through the use of bronze dies. Once cooked, Pasta di Gragnano PGI has a firm, elastic consistency, not sticky. It maintains its shape well, with a strong flavour of durum wheat and a light fragrance of ripe wheat.
The production of dry pasta in the area of Gragnano, a small city near Naples, began in the XVI century with the first family-run pasta factories. Due to the long tradition of pasta making, Gragnano started to be called “the city of Pasta”. In the second half of 1800, about 75% of Gragnano population worked in pasta making factories and Via Roma, now a symbolic street for the history of Pasta di Gragnano PGI, was remodelled to facilitate its exposure to the sun, thus becoming a kind of natural dryer for the pasta.
The production method for this dry pasta is divided into various stages: the mixing, which consists of mixing the durum wheat flour with water from the area of production, no more than 30% of the total mixture; the kneading, until the dough reaches the right consistency and elasticity; the drawing phase to reach the desired shape and the drying and cooling phase during which the pasta is dried gradually at a temperature of between 40°C/104°F and 80°C/176 °F for 6 to 60 hours, depending on the shape. The pasta is then ventilated with hot air, several times, and the product must be packaged in the place of production within 24 hours.
Pasta di Gragnano PGI, thanks to the versatility of its shapes, is perfect for many recipes. Dry pasta has to be cooked in a large pan, waiting that the water is boiled, respecting the cooking timing written on the packaging: the result should be “al dente”, not too hard nor too soft.
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Source(s): consorziogragnanocittadellapasta, italianmade