Dried pasta
Durum wheat semolina and water, extruded and dried — the everyday pasta of southern Italy.
wheaty
Kinds
- Bronze-die
- Trafilata al bronzo: a rough, chalky surface that holds sauce.
- Teflon-die
- Smooth and slippery; cheaper.
Knowing it
- Where to buy
- Italian delis and good supermarkets. Look for bronze-die on the packet.
- A little history
- Gragnano, near Naples, has been making dried pasta for centuries, and is still famous for it.
- Worth knowing
- Salt the water well, and save a mug of it before draining — its starch helps the sauce cling.