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MACARONI (from dialectic Ital. maccar...
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See also:MACARONI (from See also:dialectic Ital. maccare, to bruise or crush) , a preparation of a glutinous See also:wheat originally See also:peculiar to See also:Italy, where it is an See also:article of See also:food of See also:national importance. The same substance in different forms is also known as See also:vermicelli, pasta or See also:Italian pastes, spaghetti, See also:taglioni, See also:fanti, &c. These substances are prepared from the hard, semi-translucent varieties of wheat which are largely cultivated in the See also:south of See also:Europe, See also:Algeria and other warm regions, and distinguished by the Italians as grano duro or grano da semolino. These wheats are much richer in See also:gluten and other nitrogenous compounds than the soft or See also:tender wheats of more See also:northern regions, and their preparations are more easily preserved. The various preparations are met with as See also:fine thin threads (vermicelli), thin sticks and pipes (spaghetti, macaroni), small lozenges, stars, disks, ellipses, &c. (pastes). These various forms are prepared in a See also:uniform manner from a granular product of hard wheat, which, under the name of semolina or middlings, is a commercial article. The semolina is thoroughly mixed with boiling See also:water and incorporated in a kneading See also:machine, such as is used in bakeries, into a stiff See also:paste or dough. It is then further kneaded by passing frequently between rollers or under edge runners, till a homogeneous See also:mass has been produced which is placed in a strong See also:steam-jacketed See also:cylinder, the See also:lower end of which is closed with a thick disk pierced with openings corresponding with the See also:diameter or See also:section of the article to be made. Into this cylinder an accurately fitting plunger or See also:piston is introduced and subjected to very See also:great pressure, which causes the stiff dough to squeeze out through the openings in the disk in continuous threads, sticks or pipes, as the See also:case may be. Vermicelli is cut off in See also:short bundles and laid on trays to dry, while macaroni is dried by See also:hanging it in longer lengths over wooden rods in stoves or heated apartments through which currents of See also:air are driven. It is only genuine macaroni, See also:rich in gluten, which can be dried in this manner; See also:spurious fabrications will not See also:bear their own See also:weight, and must, therefore, be laid out See also:flat to be dried. In making pastes the cylinder is closed with a disk pierced with holes having the sectional See also:form of the pastes, and a set of knives revolving See also:close against the See also:external See also:surface of the disk cut off the paste in thin sections as it exudes from each opening. True macaroni can be distinguished by observing the flattened See also:mark of the See also:rod over which it has been dried within the See also:bend of the tubes; it has a soft yellowish See also:colour, is rough in texture, elastic and hard, and breaks with a smooth glassy fracture. In boiling it swells up to See also:double its See also:original See also:size without becoming pasty or adhesive. It can be kept any length of See also:time without alteration or deterioration; and it is on that See also:account, in many circumstances, a most convenient as well as a highly nutritious and healthful article of food. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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