What is National Pasta Day?
National Pasta day is celebrated every October 17. The folks who created pasta definitely knew what they were doing. Hundreds of years of Italian tradition go into this simple meal. Each October, we devote a special day to this incredible dish. Pasta come in many shapes and sizes but no matter the form, it’s something nearly every American Family has grown up with.
National Pasta Day Related Holidays
Red sauce with meatballs, or blanketed in bolognese, spaghetti is no doubt one of our favorite pastas. Pour yourself a glass of your favorite wine and pile on the parmesan cheese while your pasta is still hot! National Spaghetti Day is celebrated annually on January 4.
Creamy white sauce that’s delicious with chicken, shrimp, or even plain! Fettuccine Alfredo is a comforting and heart warming dish that is no doubt celebrated by cheesy pasta lovers everywhere. National Fettuccine Alfredo Day is celebrated yearly on February 7.
Pillows of pasta stuffed with a tasty filling, National Tortellini Day falls on February 13 every year. The fabled story of the tortellini’s conception involves the Goddess Venus and a peeping tom tavern owner. To read more about the tortellini’s shape, check out our page for National Tortellini Day!
History of National Pasta Day
Spaghetti, fettuccini, macaroni, and ravioli: pasta is undoubtably one of our favorite comfort foods. But do we know how the dish became so popular here in the states? Or where it even came from? The origins of pasta are a little difficult to trace, but many researchers support the theory that Marco Polo brought noodles back to Italy upon returning from a trip to China in 1271.
Though this theory supports a tale of discovery and adventure, Marco Polo’s travels are all retold through second hand sources, making the accuracy questionable. However, if Marco Polo did bring pasta back to Italy, he certain wasn’t the first to do so. Pasta was already a popular dish in Italy by the early 13th century. Other historians have traced pasta back to ancient Etruscan civilizations, who would grind cereals and grains before mixing them with water to produce their own pasta-like carbohydrate.
Pasta was brought to America by early Spanish settlers, but wasn’t popular until Thomas Jefferson made a trip to Paris and fell in love with macaroni (which, at the time, referred to any pasta shape). Years later, when a large group of Italian immigrants moved from Italy to America, pasta became a staple and obtainable meal in the United States.