Pasta, Vermicelli or Fideos. Ah Ha.
An ah ha moment. I was re-reading the best book we have on the history of pasta, Pasta The Story of a Universal Food, by Silvano Serventi and Francoise Sabban when I ran across this sentence.
What was generally called . . . “Italian pasta” was actually pasta from Genoa and Naples; pasta from other Italian regions was virtually unknown outside Italy.
Between 1550 and 1850, according to the many pages these authors spend on the matter, the centers for dried durum wheat pasta were these two towns (the centers for egg pasta being Alsace and Bologna). Also important were Sicily and Sardinia.
So why ah ha? Well, let’s remember that Italy was not unified as a country until the late nineteenth century. And let’s rethink the geography of Europe in these centuries. Naples, Sicily, Sardinia? All part of the Spanish Hapsburg Empire along with all of what is now Spain. The Republic of Genoa? An ally of the Spanish Hapsburgs.
In short, the political home of dried durum wheat pasta was the Spanish Empire, even if it’s geographic home was the Italian peninsula and nearby islands. And that is crucial for understanding who ate vermicelli or fideos as they are called in the Spanish speaking world.
What we have, I propose, is two global expansions of dried durum wheat pasta. The first was with the Spanish Empire in the sixteenth-eighteenth century and consisted of fideos, vermicelli, made by machine in small workshops. (We’ll leave tallarines to one side for a moment). The second was with Italian out-migration 1880-1920 and consisted of the spaghetti family made and dried by machine in small factories.
The delightful and informative illustration of a fine pasta (vermicelli or fideo) maker in from Paul-Jacques Malouin’s Description et dètail des arts due meunier, du vermicelier (1767). On the right, a man is working the “brake” the lever for mixing and kneading the dough. On the left, his companion is pushing the pole that moves the screw press that extrudes the vermicelli or fideos.
Compare my photo of a Mexican fideo press.
It’s in the huge and stunning sixteenth century fortress monastery in Yuriria in the south of the state of Guanajuato, the entry point to the rich agricultural region of central Mexico (the Bajio) for the Spanish.
I think that in terms of Fideos, the two main influences are the Iberian and Ligurian. Haven’t quite worked out what the link is between the two, other then extensive trade. From the Iberian tradion you have fideos in Spain, Morroco, the Jewish world and the New World. From the Ligurian connection there is North-Western Italy, parts of modern France (including places like Grenoble), Sardinia.
So a lot of the expansion in fideos production areas occured before the Hapsburghs, or Spain for that matter, although I have no doubt that both were extensively involved at a later stage. Mention of fideos (various spellings) turns up everwhere there is trade essentially, even from a quite early point. The problem with a trade item is that it is often difficult to pinpoint where exactly it is being produced. For example there is mention of fideos on a 14th century ships cargo list for a Jewish Sardinian merchant. Where was it produced, was it a Jewish, Arabic or Christian dish where was it going to be eaten? Basically who ever is the biggest trading influence on the Med 14-18th century will get linked with the fideos story in some was as if was a common trade item during this preiod.
Looking at a map of the Med at the period where it is know that a lot of fideos was being make and exported from Sardinia 13th-14th century), it is interesting to see how the map of Aragonese territories corresponds with the big areas of fideos production in Spain, Sardinia, Southern France. During this period a lot of Sardian was reformed to be an extension of the Catalan region in many ways, I wonder if this is when the pasta was introduced or if it pre-existed in the region. Shortly after this period the Aragonese territories became part of the House of Habsburg empire.
To both posts. I think this is all one region. Catalonia is clearly important, though Servanti and Sabban found no mention of workshops there. But they focus (quite enough) on China and Italy, so Spain seems marginal.
Well if Italy wasn’t a unified country until the mid 19th century, then I think that the same could be said for Spain, not a unified politically until 1492 and certainly not coherent for decades after this. Much of the early records on fideos pre-date this by centuries. So the Spanish/Hapsburghs from Charles I of Spain of inheritied and expanded a pre-existing economic entity. At roughly the same period Genoa, another area of fideos production, became something of satellite of Spain. Spain’s consollidation of economic power in the region after 1500 also coinsides with the opening up of the New World.
The must be ships cargo lists from the early voyages to the New World, I would love to see if there is mention of fideos, as I think that the success of its spread is due to its successful use as a trade item and maybe it’s use on voyages. Catalonian Ship’s Biscuit?
No, certainly Spain was not a unified country when fideos tarted making their rounds. But I thnk there were strong trading and in some cases political ties between the fideo areas. I suspect that if one of the authors had been Catalan, what is now the Mediterranean part of Spain would have played a bigger role in their history.
Sure, the book is very Italy orientated, but very good never the less. What would be interesting woud be a objective view of the relationship between the Moors in Iberia and the Christian states, especially the Crown of Aragorn. I wonder if this is possible.
One detail that makes me think that fideos are widespread due to being a trade item, rather then a marker of a specific group of people is how widespread its distribution is and the outliers. Historically it appears on trade records of the Venetians and there are extant version of it in Alpine France and Switzerland. It reminds be of the distribution of couscous, the pasta terms “tria” and “lakhsha, versions of the latter occur from Lithuania to Malaysia. On the other hand is it a physical item or idea that is being traded.
Historians have been struggling to get a balanced story of the racial relations in Medieval Spain and hence of and everything that follows from them. Not easy. And I tend to think that most foods spread, few are limited to specific groups of people.
In the specific case fideos, the story is further complicated by the fact the the original pasta (hand made) does not resemble the latter descriptions (machine made) of short thin tubes, like vermicelli cut up. In fact a lot of accounts were careful to differentiate fideos from vermicelli.
The hand made pasta sounds like a cross between modern Ligurian trofie and the rice/barley/melon seed/birds tongue shaped dried pasta. So we are not even talking about one food stuff. In some cases it is the name that is important, rather then the food stuff. A bit like “Macaroni” in the 18th century, sort of a generic name for pasta, know it means something more specific.
So to get back to the original point, yes the Spanish did expand the the use of this type of pasta, but as part of a continuous process. I guess on question is why did this style of pasta ultimately fail in Western Europe and especially North Western Italy which was one of its great strongholds. Why did the Southern Italian “cook in large amounts of water, then drain” become the norm, rather then “cook in broth”? A hugely widespread tradition becomes regional.
“The hand made pasta sounds like a cross between modern Ligurian trofie and the rice/barley/melon seed/birds tongue shaped dried pasta.”
Where do you think North African hand shaped/rolled pasta and couscous fit into this?
I would say that they are directly related to the Medieval Moorish recipes for Fidaush. Remember that in the Anonyous Andalusian Cookbook (translated by Charles Perry), Fidaush is described as being of three sorts, long and shaped like a wheat grain, round like a grain of coriander or chickpea, and one that is in thin sheets. It is described as being cooked like Itriyya (tria = noodles), in broth. So shape not important at this point. I think that a different times an locations the term fidaush, fideus, fides, alfidwash, fidelei etc etc has refered to different products, but there is a continuity of production and a shared history.
The real North African contribution to couscous was producing it by an accretion method, rather then by pinching off pits of dough (pasta in fact). Steaming stuff in a kiskis is not specifically North African, producing couscous grains by an accretion method seems to be.
So I would make a distinction between fidaush and couscous based on the method of producing the pasta v couscous, even if in some cases they are superficially similar (round balls) and more importantly the cooking technique (cooked in broth v steamed in kiskis).
There is cross overs and exceptions though, pasta that is steamed in a kiskis for instance.
I am fascinated by your blog!
A Mexican friend recently told me that spaghetti with meat sauce is very popular at restaurants on Christmas Eve, that her family always eats it on that special night. I find this very curious, but there must be a historical reason. It could be attributed to Spain ruling the area that gave birth to wheat pasta.
Kathleen
Thank you, thank you Kathleen.
A lot of Mexican friends in Guanajuato ate spaghetti on Christmas Eve, though cannelloni was gaining popularity. I think it fits nicely in the sopa seca category, not being that different from fideos but a bit more out of the ordinary. And just look at the rows of packets of spaghetti on the grocery store shelves!
Dear Rachel, This is a splendid place for people to begin! Thank you. I’ve just received your Cuisine & Empire: Cooking in World History and it looks wonderful. So thank you again.
Thank you Barbara. I love forward to your discerning comments.