The best Artisanal Pasta (handmade pasta) is "Pasta from Gragnano" made with Italian durum wheat semolina and dried at low temperatures. The pasta is produced using the bronze drawing technique which allows it to have a rougher appearance, be more porous and maintain its nutritional qualities unchanged.
Pasta is a true symbol of traditional Italian culture, the most appreciated first course worldwide. Its origins can be traced back to ancient times, when humans abandoned their nomadic lifestyle, learned to sow and harvest, and became farmers. At that point, they started to cultivate wheat and from there, by grinding and mixing it with water, gave birth to pasta, which at the time was cooked on hot stones. Today, pasta has spread all over the world, although many still haven't quite figured out how to cook it :).
The differences between artisanal and industrial pasta mainly concern the size of the factories, the processing techniques, and the quality of the wheat.
A company that produces artisanal pasta is usually small, often family-run, and carries out the entire processing process internally, from wheat cultivation to processing and packaging. Industrial pasta factories, on the other hand, are very large companies that often relocate their production elsewhere, even abroad.
In addition, artisanal pasta is almost entirely handmade, and even where machinery is used, there is always a worker supervising every single detail, which does not happen in large industries.
But the main difference between artisanal and industrial pasta is in the quality of the raw materials, particularly the wheat, which in the former case always comes from local grain stores.
5 ideas for seasoning your handmade pasta
