RuvidaMente
The first mass-produced industrial product was the book.
The press and movable type allowed books to be produced in large quantities, all identical to each other.
A few centuries had to pass before we started talking about mass-produced industrial products again, until the great technological explosion of the 20th century, thanks to which industrialists, having successfully solved the problem of "producing", began to deal with the external appearance of the products, going beyond the simple concept of "decoration" applied to products until then, and intervening directly on the "form".
The mass-produced industrial product was asked not only to be "functional", but also to be "beautiful", "pleasant to look at". Industrial design was born.
And yet, there was an industrial product that was mass-produced already in the 17th century, responding, almost two centuries in advance, to those needs that industrial design solves today: "pasta".
Dried pasta, in fact, was born from the need to have a food product with a long shelf life and, at the same time, easy to consume.
The invention consists of creating a mixture of cereal flour and water, giving it a shape and drying it in such a way that, precisely in the absence of water, those phenomena of bacterial proliferation that normally prevent the conservation of food do not occur.
The skill of the pasta producer consists first of all in selecting the flours suitable for this process according to various parameters (chemical, physical characteristics, increase in volume, etc.).
Then in using water that meets the purity and hardness requirements that combine well with the flour and equally well promote the drying process.
Then, in transforming the dough into shapes that lend themselves easily to both the drying process and subsequent consumption.
Finally, in carrying out the drying process in such a way that the characteristics of the product are not altered either in an aesthetic sense or in an organoleptic sense and that they can be preserved over time without deterioration.
The industrialist who manages to respect these premises is able to produce pasta "in series", that is, enormous quantities of the same product that will be consumed at different times, and in different places.
The mixture of water and flour needed to make pasta has a consistency and elasticity that allows it to be reduced to the widest range of possible shapes. Its ductility is such that we can compare it to clay, gold, glass.
But since its purpose is not purely aesthetic, in giving it a shape we must take into account numerous needs, sometimes conflicting with each other.
The shaping process, for example, is followed by cooling and drying. Both of these processes impose particular needs: for pasta it is necessary to obtain shapes determined by thin structures, with homogeneous thicknesses, in which most of the material is also the "external surface", easily in contact with the air.
The need to store and transport pasta also affects its shape: a project aimed only at solving the problem of perfect drying could lead to an extremely fragile pasta, capable of shattering at the first handling or transport.
In order to be consumed, then, pasta must regain the water lost during drying.
This happens with boiling, during which two different processes occur simultaneously: the dough regains its original quantity of water and becomes soft, chewable, swallowable, but at the same time the flour "cooks", that is, subjected to an intense heat treatment, it is transformed in such a way as to acquire a more appetizing flavor and an organoleptic structure that is more easily digestible.
Since this is a process of a different nature, and not "the reverse" of drying, it will be necessary to select, among the ideal shapes for perfect drying, those that best lend themselves to this specific rehydration and cooking treatment.
But pasta must also be eaten and technical-scientific motivations alone are not enough to stimulate its consumption. Emotional factors conditioned by taste, culture, previous experiences, the daily repetitiveness of the act of eating, etc. come into play.
Hence the need to invent, for a product that is unchangeable in substance, different aspects that determine visual and tactile variations that are stimulating and pleasant.
Furthermore, pasta cannot be eaten alone. By entrusting the variable component only to the shape, the palate can only be fooled for limited times. We therefore intervene on the pasta by enriching it with flavors, the so-called "condiments".
The range of condiments is unlimited, as far as flavors are concerned, and quite diversified as far as structure is concerned. We have liquid, fluid, semi-solid, and solid condiments. We have watery and oily ones. Some do not change state when in contact with the heat of the pasta, while others melt, or combine with other elements.
However, they all have different viscosities, and they stick to the pasta differently depending on its shape. Here is another element to take into account when creating a pasta shape, which consequently, when it is time to eat it, depending on how it has been designed, may be more suitable for collecting one type of sauce rather than another.
If pasta is able to satisfy all these conditions, then it is a design product.
But that's not all. Analyzing the dynamics of consumer products, we discover that they are often removed from price lists and replaced by others even if the abandoned ones still manage to fulfill their task very well.
It is a fact determined by the market, which needs to be continuously stimulated with new proposals capable of exciting the imagination and desires of consumers. Well, the same thing happened with pasta.
Since the 19th century, it was customary for all pasta factories to create a new shape of pasta every year and offer it to consumers. It was a commercial promotion technique that had the function of attracting the attention of customers. Some shapes were successful, others were quickly forgotten. However, from year to year the range of varieties was enriched, which is still very numerous.
This process has never stopped and pasta continues its unstoppable journey, a current food today because it was already at the forefront centuries ago, when it was born.
But, overwhelmed by the pleasures of the palate, we had never noticed it.
Below, a brief overview of the main pasta shapes
