22 Luglio 2024
The first "family tree" of Italian stuffed pasta: an international research team led by the University of Padua, which includes the University of Pollenzo, investigates for the first time with a scientific method the origins of stuffed pasta, one of the most iconic dishes of the Italian table.
A study led by a group of researchers from the Department of Biology at the University of Padua has recently been published in the journal "Discover Food" investigating the origins of one of the most iconic elements of Italian culture – stuffed pasta – using a scientific method to reconstruct the origins and evolution of the wide variety of stuffed pasta present in our country, an example of the great Italian biocultural diversity.
The research involved researchers from other Italian and international universities, including the University of Pollenzo: the authors are Vazrick Nazari (first author), Sofia Belardinelli, and Telmo Pievani (team coordinator) from the University of Padua, Antonella Pasqualone from the University of Bari, Andrea Pieroni from the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo, Valentina Todisco from the University of Salzburg (Austria), and Sofia Belardinelli from the University Federico II of Naples.
To create the dataset, the authors relied on both the scientific literature on the subject and some foundational texts of Italian cuisine, such as the legendary volume by Pellegrino Artusi "La scienza in cucina e l'arte di mangiar bene" (1891). A separation was made between Eurasian stuffed pasta formats (such as gyoza, maultaschen, pierogi, pelmeni...), grouped as out-groups and used as a comparison element, and those specifically Italian. The selected formats are 28, representing a variety of the entire national territory, from Sardinian culurgiones to Friulian cjarsons, from Bolognese tortellini to Romagna cappelletti.
By analyzing the various characteristics of this "family" of pasta (dough ingredients, type of filling, cooking method, size, folding, etc.) and the geographical distribution of the recipes, the researchers developed a phylogenetic tree that reconstructs the probable origin and spread of stuffed pasta in Italy, as well as its progressive differentiation into various regional and local forms.
The analysis results show that it is very likely that stuffed pasta, originating in Eurasia, first arrived in Northern Italy and from there spread to the rest of the Peninsula following an initial reduction in morphological variability (outside the biological metaphor, the variety of recipes) due to a sort of "founder effect."
The phylogenetic tree also allows the reconstruction of relationships between the different forms of stuffed pasta. A main distinction is evident between two large "families," that of tortellini (more three-dimensional) and that of ravioli (flatter). Both groups seem to originate from Northern Italy, where most of the formats considered for the analysis are concentrated.
This study is the first to apply a scientific method to the classification of Italian stuffed pasta: the researchers' goal is to replicate this approach to expand knowledge of the biocultural diversity of our country.
Andrea Pieroni, co-author of the research and professor at the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo, comments: «In Italy, pasta, like every ingredient, product, and dish of gastronomy, is an ethno-ecological web in constant evolution, where ecological and socio-cultural interconnections have always converged. This work adopts a well-known method in biology and applies it to the evolution of the “stuffed pasta” food system. It was a pioneering journey that we imagine can be applied to other culinary trajectories and be a source of surprises not visible based on only historical investigation.»
