A pasta factory in the mountains
SO TOTALLY UNEXPECTED
Last night I watched the Italian food history guy talk about pasta. So my first thought was to write something about pasta - but what - so much and yet so little to say. And then I thought back to our recent trip to Italy and to Abruzzo in particular - a most beautiful and unspoilt part of Italy I would urge you all to visit before it is overrun by tourists. There are absolutely none there at the moment.
For one of our day trips our travelling companions wanted to visit the nearby National Park of the Majella (over a third of Abruzzo is National Park), and one particular gorge. So we arrive in this beautiful spot, beside a stream that was crystal clear on the edge of the little village of Fara San Martino.
The region really feels remote and wild, but with these beautiful ancient villages dotted here and there, with ancient churches and other buildings and amazing modern additions like this spectacular belvedere/piazza overlooking the mountains. I hope the picture at left gives some idea of the vista. Anyway, in this glorious place, there is this massive pasta factory - also shown above. It is the home of Delverde pasta, apparently one of Italy's best and a favourite of one of the Popes - I'm not sure which one. It's claim to fame is the water from the spring which it uses to make the pasta, and which it claims gives it it's pure taste and nutritional value. Who knows - I am not a really good judge of good or bad pasta, although we did buy some in a local shop. The situation is also apparently very good for the drying process. And in fact the history program which was talking about another town famous for its pasta remarked that one of the things that made it a pasta centre was the offshore breezes that dried the pasta.
I'm not sure what I feel about a massive pasta factory on the edge of a National Park. But it's somehow very Italian. It's a bit of a blight on the landscape - not a very beautiful building, though, of course, it's difficult to make a factory beautiful yet practical I would think. But it must be great for the region. Think of the employment opportunities in a region that would otherwise have little else. It must allow some, who might otherwise have drifted to the cities, to stay in this beautiful spot. So overall I think - well done. And the company certainly makes great play of the natural setting in its advertising. See below.
The water really was amazingly clear - I tried to capture it but I don't think I did a terribly good job.
The walk through the gorge was beautiful and not that exacting - nobody else there - we saw one hiker and the man on the donkey, although there were spikes knocked into the cliff face for climbers. It was a bit Petra like - well what I would imagine Petra to be like - although on a much smaller scale - it just opened into a small clearing in which there was a ruined small monastery. The people in the little café by the spring were so friendly. And the pasta factory was a real surprise.
And what did I learn from the program on pasta. Well - that it was not brought to Italy by Marco Polo. That was an invention of some American marketers. A sort of pasta has been made since ancient times, although it was really the Moors who first made a big thing of it. It was they who brought the durum flour to Italy. But it was not until they brought in technology to help knead it and shape it that it really took off. I don't know that he really answered the question of why the Italians in particular should be so enamoured of it, but never mind. It's the world's favourite food now - and we're having some for dinner tomorrow. We have it at least once a week. Must see if I can find some Delverde pasta here.
