Pasta di Gragnano

Appearance & taste

Pasta di Gragnano is straw-coloured and even, without white or black spots, air bubbles or cracks; the fracture surface is glassy. The surface is rough, a feature of the bronze dies. The pasta is sold in various traditional shapes that go back to the creativity of the producers in Gragnano.

When cooked, the pasta is firm and at the same time elastic, cooks evenly, stays firm for a long time and does not stick. It tastes distinctly of durum wheat and smells of ripe wheat. Thanks to its rough surface it takes up sauces easily and can be cooked al dente.

It is packed in cartons, transparent bags or other food-grade materials holding 100 g to 5 kg. The label gives “Pasta di Gragnano” with the words “Indicazione Geografica Protetta” or “I.G.P.” and bears the logo of the name together with the EU symbol.

Production

Durum wheat semolina with at least 13 % protein in dry matter is mixed with groundwater from the region; the water makes up at most 30 % of the total mass. The dough is kneaded until it is even and elastic and then pressed through bronze dies. At the points of contact the bronze holds back the dough, creating tiny rough patches.

The pasta is then dried, cooled and stabilised. All steps from mixing to stabilising take place in Gragnano. It is also packed there, within 24 hours of production, so that the pasta does not lose moisture and does not break during transport. According to the specification, the producers attach particular importance to careful drying; this goes back to the time when the pasta dried in the streets of Gragnano.

Origin & history

According to the specification, Gragnano has been known for pasta made from durum wheat since the 16th century. Water from the nearby Monti Lattari was plentiful: it was needed for the dough and drove the mills in which the wheat was ground. The remains in the “Valle dei Mulini”, the valley of the mills of Gragnano, bear witness to this. In the middle of the 19th century, when the new town plan was drawn up, the width of the streets and the height of the houses were chosen so that the wind could dry the pasta better.

Before the unification of Italy there were around a hundred pasta businesses in Gragnano, employing about 70 % of the working population. At the beginning of the 20th century the name was widely known, and traders from Florence, Turin, Milan and abroad bought large quantities. Although Teflon dies have spread elsewhere, Gragnano has stuck with bronze. Today Gragnano is called “Città della Pasta”, the city of pasta.