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Macaroni

This is a peculiar paste or dough, prepared from wheat flour, and manufactured into tubes or ribbons. It is an Italian invention, and though made by a simple process, has never been produced with such success in any other country. The grain grown in the southern districts of Europe is said to be the best suited for its manufacture, through its possessing a greater amount of gluten than any other sort of grain. The wheat, after being thoroughly washed, is freed from the husks, and ground in water-mills; when hot, water is added, till it is of the consistency of stiff dough. Five different qualities of flour are obtained by five separate siftings, the last giving the finest and most delicate that can be made. The dough is kneaded by means of a wooden pole, attached to a post fixed in the ground, and worked up and down as a lever, under one end of which the paste is placed. In making the dough into tubes and ribbons, a hollow cylindrical castiron vessel is used, having the bottom perforated with holes or slits. This is filled with the paste. Then a piece of wood or a heavy iron plate is brought down upon it by means of a screw, and in this manner the paste is forced through the holes and receives the shape of the perforations. The macaroni is partially baked as it issues from these holes, by a fire placed below the cylinder, and as it descends is drawn away and hung on rods, placed across the room, where in a few days it dries so as to be fit for use. The finest sorts of macaroni are the whitest in colour, and those which do not burst or break up in boiling. In the boiling process, macaroni should swell considerably, and become quite soft, but it should retain its form, otherwise one may conclude that it has not been made of the best wheat. Occasionally macaroni is flavoured and coloured with saffron and turmeric, to suit certain palates.